A medical student, who returned to Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district from Ukraine earlier this week, claimed that Ukrainian guards were beating up Indian students fleeing the war zone.

Videos of a purported security officer hitting a student had gone viral a couple of days ago as the stranded students tried to reach Ukraine’s western borders after Russian forces invaded the country.

Shruti Nayak, a third year MBBS student at Ivano National Medical University, returned home to Guna after being evacuated by an Air India flight.

The situation in Ukraine is very bad, she told reporters. “Ukrainian guards were harassing Indian students who were fleeing the war zone and even beating them up,” she claimed. “I am fortunate enough that I reached India and am now meeting family members,” Ms. Nayak said.

She said she had booked a return flight for February 16, but the flight was cancelled. She then booked a ticket for March 3, but it too got cancelled, she said.

Ms. Nayak then traveled 400 km on a bus to reach Romania on February 26 and the government there helped Indian students, she said, thanking the Indian government for the evacuation effort. She boarded a special Air India flight for evacuees on February 27 from Romania and reached New Delhi the same day.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said earlier that more than 180 students stuck in Ukraine had contacted a helpline set up by the State government. So far, 29 persons from Madhya Pradesh have returned from Ukraine, Mr. Chouhan stated on Monday.