- Naveen S G, a 21-year-old fourth-year medical student from Karnataka, stepped out of the bunker, where the students had been holed up for the past six days, to buy groceries — and became the first Indian casualty in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Numbed by the sound of explosions outside, a group of students at the Kharkiv National Medical University in eastern Ukraine decided it was time to leave — even if it meant a cross-country dash of over 1,500 km from their city near the Russian border to the Hungarian border in the southwest.
“One group left on Monday. But Naveen suggested that the others wait so that we can take our juniors along, too, as they had been in Ukraine for less than a year. It was his idea to leave Kharkiv on Wednesday morning,” Amit Vaishyar, a final-year student, told The Indian Express over phone.
On Tuesday morning, Naveen S G, a 21-year-old fourth-year medical student from Karnataka, stepped out of the bunker, where the students had been holed up for the past six days, to buy groceries — and became the first Indian casualty in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Whenever the curfew would be lifted, we would go out together to buy groceries. On Tuesday, I went to sleep around 3.30 am and woke up late. By 6 am, Naveen had left to bring food for all of us. The market is about 50 metres from our bunker. At 7.58 am, he sent a message to one of us, saying he was short of money and asked for some to be transferred to his account. One of us called his phone at 8.10 am, but an Ukrainian answered the call and said he was no more,” Vaishyar said.
“He died when he went to get us food,” he said. Also Read |
Naveen belonged to Chalageri village in Haveri district, about 300 km from Bengaluru. He is survived by his father Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, a retired private firm employee, mother Vijayalakshmi and elder brother Harsha who is pursuing a PhD.Check Out Express Premium
Speaking to reporters, Shekharappa said Naveen had called the family around 10 pm on Monday. “He said the situation was really bad but he was safe. On Tuesday morning, he called and spoke to his mother. After the war broke out, he had been calling 4-5 times every day. We never thought his life was in danger,” he said.
Asked why he had sent his son to Ukraine, he said: “I had no choice because studying medicine in India is very costly, and it is very hard to get a seat.”
Shekharappa said that his son had scored 97 per cent in pre-university college (Plus-2). “A medical seat costs Rs 2-3 crore here so he went outside because it would cost much less and the facilities are very good… If the education system was proper in India, I would not have faced this day,” he said. Also read |Government to rope in Air Force for Ukraine evacuation efforts
Vaishyar, who also hails from Haveri and “shared a special bond with Naveen” whom he described as “kind”, said all the students in Kharkiv were “shattered on hearing the news but were not allowed to go to the market to see what had happened as the explosions and firing continued”.
“The embassy has given up on students living in Kharkiv, saying they cannot provide any kind of transportation and will only help if we reach the Hungary or Romania borders,” he said. Also read |Russia Ukraine War: Amidst air sirens, watch the desire to play one last game of football
According to Dinakar, Naveen’s “friend from school”, he studied in Mysore district from Class 6 to Class 10. “He had come to Nanjangud (in Mysore) with his mother six months ago after spending two years in Ukraine. He stayed with us for a day and told us that he would come back in October-November 2022. He was the first student to get a medical seat from our school,” he said.
Dinakar said they last spoke on Monday when Naveen said that “although he was in a war zone he was safe inside a bunker”.
Speaking to The Indian Express from Kharkiv, Naveen’s former hostel mate Shridharan Gopalakrishnan said about 200 Indian students have taken refuge inside a bunker at the college hostel and that there was “no news about any evacuation plan”. Also Read |‘How do I explain (to my family) that even going out for groceries is game of life and death’
“All the students in the bunker are Indians. The easiest route for evacuation may be through Russia by seeking special permission for Indian students as it is the closest border (about 40 km away),” he said.
“There are about 1,500 Indian students in my college alone. There are three other major medical colleges in Kharkiv with more Indians. Since we have no assurance about an evacuation plan, several students are trying to flee Kharkiv on train or by hiring cabs. I was among 50 students who were planning to leave for Lviv (a city in the west about 70 km from the Poland border). But we returned to the bunker from the railway station after hearing about Naveen’s death,” he said.
Anaina Anna, a medical student in Kharkiv who hails from Mangalore in Karnataka, said: “I am inside a bunker about a kilometre from the market (where Naveen was killed). We have been surviving on chocolates and biscuits.The market’s supply chain has been hit and we are out of cash. We might die of hunger or be hit by Russian firing, and so have decided to take the risk and leave (for the Hungary border). It will be a 30-40 hour journey by road but we don’t have a choice.”
Another Indian medical student from the city, R Gowtham, who was on his way to Lviv on a train, sent a text message to The Indian Express: “Please save students in Kharkiv.”
First published in The Indian Express