THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four Malayali students of the State Medical University in Moldova have come to the aid of thousands of Indians trapped in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Akhiya Shihab from Thiruvananthapuram, Krishna MK Das from Kozhikode, Najab Hussain from Malappuram and Noushad Thayyil from Palakkad led the rescue operation. When the war broke out in Ukraine, they wondered what could be done from Moldova. The first mission was to raise money from classmates and deliver food, water and clothing to those who had lost everything. Students from Odessa in Ukraine called and asked for help. About 800 students from Odessa were brought to Moldova in buses and taxis at various stages in connection with taxi drivers and bus operators. They talked to the university authorities and reopened the closed hostels to provide accommodation and food for the evacuees. All were safely escorted to the airport in Romania. The rescue operation was by camping for ten days at the border.

Subsequent rescue missions were carried out with the assistance of the Indian Embassy in areas including Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhia. About 2,000 people were rescued. The last mission was to rescue the Merchant Navy team from India stranded in Ukraine. Akhiya Shihab told Kerala Kaumudi that she did not regret not being able to enter the class or write the exam in the meantime.

All four had the opportunity to attend an online meeting convened by the Prime Minister to congratulate those who took part in Operation Ganga. The quartet is happy that they have been able to repatriate all the Indians who relied on them. However, the grief of not being able to do anything for the students trapped in Sumy remains.