Indian students stuck in Ukraine’s Sumy melt snow for water

The students said that there are regular power outages

Indian students stuck in Sumy, Ukraine, are in dire situation. After a bomb exploded in the city on Thursday evening, there is no water supply to them. The students said that they are forced to collect snow, melt and use it for drinking, cooking.

"We stored some water yesterday which was over by Friday morning. So we have collected the snow in buckets, melted it, filtered and consumed it," said Abdul Rawoof, one among close to 600-800 Indian students in Sumy waiting to be rescued.

Another student Nizammudin Aman said that the water supply is cut off from Thursday night. "Thankfully it's heavily snowing today. So now we're collecting snow from outside our hostel and melting it using electric induction and kettles," said Mr. Nizammudin.

It started snowing from Friday morning. The distressed students who were in need of water found it to be a blessing in the harrowing time. Their primary request is to be evacuated. With no supply of water, their washrooms have become stinky.

The students said that there are regular power outages. Since it started snowing, they need heaters which function when there is power supply. Other basic thing which they are running out of is food. Super markets are closed. Only cash is accepted to buy groceries but ATMs have run out of cash.

"Our contactor is providing one meal a day. We are arranging another meal using bread, nutella, eggs," said Mr. Rawoof. The students have been urging Indian government to evacuate them at the earliest. They have started uploading videos on social media platforms explaining their situation and requesting for help.