( CNN) Hundreds of global trainees caught in the Ukrainian city of Sumy by Russia's invasion have actually appealed the world: "Help us, we are stranded."
Vivian Udenze, 21, a Nigerian medical student at Sumy State University told CNN: "This is the 8th day since the crisis started. A lot of places have actually been evacuated. There are more than 600 of us who are immigrants and trainees."
She said most of the group are medical trainees, and they are from Nigeria, Morocco, Tanzania, Congo and India, among other nations.Sumy lies in the northeast of Ukraine, only around 30 miles from the border with Russia.
As intense battles in between Russian and Ukrainian forces rage throughout the nation, Udenze informed CNN through phone that she got up to 2 loud explosions around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, and heard gunshots on Thursday. "I am so terrified and time is going out. "We do not want the Russians to go into the city and meet us here. We require a humanitarian passage so we can get out," she said.
As the 2nd round of talks between a delegation from Russia and Ukraine in Belarus ended Thursday, the head of Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky told Russian media the two sides have actually settled on humanitarian corridors for civilians.Udenze later told CNN that more surges were heard on Thursday evening at around 6 30 p.m local time. The students no longer have electricity or water following the blast, she said.
Making complex the students' escape is the reality that there's no public transport offered in Sumy, which has actually come over heavy fire in current days, leaving roads and bridges destroyed.
' No one is discussing about Sumy'
Fifth-year medical student and Indian national, Shivangi Shibu shared a similar story Thursday. "We simply heard some sirens. The situation is going to get even worse soon over here. We don't have any other options so we just have to run to bunkers," she told CNN over the phone.
" No one is discussing Sumy. I hope we will be evacuated soon because we don't wish to be a casualty of this war. We do not deserve this," Shibu added.
" This is our second home but we still need our family. We require to see them. We don't want to be included with this politics . The [only] solution is to allow us to go via the Russian border because we can not travel to any other destination."Later Thursday night, Shibu shared video from her university hostel window of what she stated was an air strike over Sumy. It shows a flash of plain light in the distance. "Electricity is gone," she wrote in the video's caption.Excel Ugochukwu is a first-year Business Management student. The trainee, who is from Nigeria, told CNN: "There were aircrafts flying overhead and a loud explosion. We simply lost electrical power."
He stated the university has actually "asked everybody to sit tight and in the shelters for now," however explained a continuous risk of threat that makes everyday life tense in the city.
" There is a curfew [from] 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. During curfew hours there are overall blackouts. Street lights and lights inside your house are turned off," he informed CNN." There are air strike cautions occasionally and everyone relocates to the bomb shelter," he added, before going to a nearby bomb shelter.In a video sent to CNN, another Nigerian student at the university, Nnamdi Chukwuemeka pleaded: "We are attempting to bring the attention of the world to the predicament of students here in Sumy.
" Sumy is bordered by Russia, and as such, there is no chance for us to escape. We want the international community to help supply a safe corridor for us to vacate Sumy. Things are buckling down," Chukwuemeka stated.Udenze stated she has not been able to reach any agents of the Nigerian embassy.She informed CNN: "People have tried to contact them . I personally sent out a message to somebody there [but] I didn't get a reply."
When contacted by CNN, Nigeria's foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama said: "We are aware and are making arrangements."
The Indian embassy in Moscow stated in a statement to CNN that it is "incredibly worried about the safety and security of Indian citizens stuck in (the) Kharkiv and Sumy areas" during the ongoing conflict.
"We have actually requested both sides to ensure that the civilian areas where our trainees are located are kept safe," it continued. The embassy added that it is working closely with Russian authorities to see if those citizens could be brought back to India through Russia, and had actually sent out teams to the Russian side of the border to get ready for their possible evacuation.
