Photos: African residents in Ukraine wait at the platform inside Lviv railway station, Feb. 27, 2022, in Lviv, west Ukraine. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) / A building damaged by a rocket attack, Kyiv, Feb. 25, 2022.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
As fighting intensifies in Ukraine after the Russian occupation which began on Feb. 21, thousands of Africans, many of them students, have found themselves stuck in the invaded country. Several complained on social media that Ukrainian government officials have asked them to wait until Europeans cross the border to Poland before they leave Ukraine.
Russia launched what was initially described by President Vladimir Putin as a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“In a situation like this, you’re on your own. You’ve got to find the best way to find refuge for yourself,” stranded Ghanian engineering student Percy Ohene-Yeboah told Reuters by phone from the basement of a church where he had taken shelter.
Thousands of African students are in Ukraine studying medicine, engineering, and military affairs. Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt are among the top 10 countries with international students in Ukraine, for a total of more than 16,000 students, according to the education ministry.
With flights in and out of Ukraine grounded, the students are stranded.
Russia has at least 50 percent of its estimated 150,000-strong invasion forces in Ukraine, according to the U.S. military.
So far, the conflict has killed more than 200 civilians, and nearly 1,100 have been injured, according to Ukraine’s health ministry, Al Jazeera reported.
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More than 100,000 people have been displaced within Ukraine since the conflict started, the United Nations estimates.
More than 115,000 people have crossed into Poland from Ukraine, and everyone from Ukraine was allowed to enter, even those without a valid passport, the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
“I will be heading to Nigeria from Poland if I’m able to cross,” said Somto Orah, a Nigerian student at State University of Telecommunications in Kyiv, as he joined the line at the border gate. “But if I see a school offer around Schengen (26 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and other types of border control at their mutual borders), I will take it up because I don’t want my school life to be disrupted.”
Orah said he and fellow African students have received no support from any government authorities.
“The school only gave us bomb shelter to hide when the air raid siren is on,” Orah said. “There is little food. I couldn’t access cash for two days now. Every ATM on the road has no cash.”
Photo: African residents in Ukraine wait at the platform inside Lviv railway station, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022, in Lviv, west Ukraine. As hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians seek refuge in neighboring countries, cradling children in one arm and clutching belongings in the other, leaders in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania are offering a hearty welcome. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
