The US and its Western allies warned for weeks that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent, but it appeared to Ahmed Fatami Rume even on Wednesday that there would not be a war, Reuters reports.
“I did not think about leaving the city as everything was almost normal,” said Fatami, a young Bangladeshi from Sylhet who had travelled to Ukraine for study two months ago.
He lives in Mariupol, a city in disputed Donetsk under the control of Russia-backed separatists.
Russia on Feb 21 recognised Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent before sending troops on what it said was a “peacekeeping” mission.
Although Russian tanks arrived in the two regions, Mariupol was said to be still under Ukraine’s control on Thursday after Russian troops launched the invasion.
Fatami said the situation worsened rapidly on Thursday as the resident woke up to a loud bang just before dawn. He heard several loud sounds afterwards.
Taxis and buses were still on the streets but the number of people outdoors has decreased with tension running high among the residents.
The city has been almost cut off as transport services out of it have been halted while many were trying to flee by whatever means they had.
“I’ve seen several checkpoints set up by the Ukrainian army on the streets. They might have taken the step to keep order because majority of the residents of the city are supporters of Russia. However, the soldiers at the checkpoints are not obstructing anyone,” said Fatami.
He said the superstores in the city still had food. People were buying things in bulks but they were not in haste.
The queues at ATM booths, however, were so long that it took hours for the customers to draw cash. One queue was nearly half a kilometre long, said Fatami.
“Although I haven’t gone to draw money, I’ve heard that the machines have enough cash and everyone can take cash as much as they want. The ATMs are refilled whenever they run out of cash.”
His family are calling him. “I’ve told them that everything is alright here so that they do not panic,” he told bdnews24.com by telephone, although he himself was unsure how safe it iwa to be in Ukraine now.
Now Bangladeshis who stayed back in Ukraine hoping that Russia would not invade the former member of the Soviet Union are struggling to find a way out of the Eastern European country.
After Russia launched its assault on Thursday, their relatives in Bangladesh advised them to return home, but Bangladesh has no embassy where they can seek help in Ukraine.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Poland, another country in the region, has maintained communication with its nationals in Ukraine.
Bangladesh has an honorary consulate in Ukraine and the Bangladesh Ambassador to Poland, Sultana Laila Hossain, has been in contact with the Bangladeshis in Ukraine on a regular basis since the crisis began to unfold.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said the government was trying to repatriate the Bangladeshi expatriates in Ukraine through Poland.
The embassy in Poland also advised the Bangladeshis to return home as many Ukrainians started fleeing to the neighbouring country.
But things are deteriorating fast. Signs of nervousness grew as planes flew overhead and Ukrainian officials reported that an airport near the capital Kyiv had been attacked.
“How will we return home in this situation?” Fatami wondered, as he and some other Bangladeshi students in the city appear to have been stranded.
After the invasion began, Fatami tried to leave Ukraine, but failed. He could not book a ticket online and then rushed between the bus and railway stations, but tickets were unavailable.
“I want to go to a safe shelter somehow. Please get us out to somewhere safe,” the young Bangladeshi pleaded, calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s help to evacuate the Bangladeshis from Ukraine to Poland or Romania or another country for repatriation.
According to him, 500 to 1,000 Bangladeshis live in Ukraine.
Another Bangladeshi expatriate, Mahbub Parvez from Gazipur who has been in the Eastern European country for nine years, said an account of the embassy in Poland suggests there are nearly 1,500 Bangladeshis in Ukraine.
But Parvez estimates that the number would be three to four times as much as many undocumented Bangladeshis also live in Ukraine.
The UN and other international organisations help undocumented migrants during such crises, but their activities in Ukraine are not significant, he said.
Parvez heard that Poland will open its borders with Ukraine to citizens of a third country if the situation deteriorates further.
Many Ukrainians have already arrived in Poland as the European countries prepared for migrants fleeing the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The embassy in Poland gave assurances on supporting Bangladeshis to get a 15-day transit visa for the repatriation, Parvez said.