Birmingham biomed grad evacuated from Ukraine amid rising tension with Russia

Haider Ali was out there studying at the Dnipro Medical Institute, near Russia


A University of Birmingham alumni has fled Ukraine as the threat of invasion from neighbouring Russia increases.

Haider Ali graduated from UoB last year with a degree in biomedical materials science.

The student is studying graduate entry medicine at the Dnipro Medical Institute, close to Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been increasing since 2014, when the people of Ukraine deposed their pro-Russia president. Although they have denied any plans to invade the country, 100,000 Russian soldiers have amassed along Ukraine’s borders.

According to the US, Russia could invade “any day now”. Potential arial bombing would mean all commercial flights in and out of Ukraine would be suspended. The British Foreign Office has urged all British nationals in Ukraine to leave before commercial flights become unavailable. 

Subsequent to studying biomedical material sciences at the University of Birmingham, Haider Ali decided to study a graduate entry medicine degree. He told The Birmingham Tab: “After receiving a number of rejections, I broadened my horizons, looked further afield, and was accepted to the course in Ukraine.”

“Medicine has always been a passion of mine and a goal from day one, so I had to do whatever I had to do to make it happen.”

He explained to The Birmingham Tab: “I did my research beforehand on the situation, but as any escalation hadn’t occurred since 2014, I thought it was a relatively safe option to go out there to finish my studies, then return to the UK to practice.”

Haider Ali

Moving to the country in September 2021, Haider completed his first term with no difficulty, and returned home for the Christmas break as usual.

He explained to The Birmingham Tab: “The media storm did make me wonder whether I should return” but “escalations by Russia started after I went back.

“In terms of the people there, they were very calm. Only a handful of people I spoke to were expressing concern that Russia may actually invade.

“However, the atmosphere was very tense from the students’ perspective due to the panic to buy the tickets on the next available flights out of the country”, Haider told The Birmingham Tab.

“I ultimately decided to leave just in the nick of time,” he said, “four days after my decision and on the night before my flight, the UK declared Ukraine a red zone for hostilities and advised all British nationals to evacuate asap and return when tensions decline.”

He explained to The Birmingham Tab that “the majority of my friends have managed to evacuate back to England.” However, despite the country’s volatile political landscape, he “definitely knows that there are quite a few that chose to stay there as the university maintains some offline classes for those that are there still.”

The UoB alumni, who also lives in Birmingham, described to The Birmingham Tab: “I felt good that I was leaving.

“Regardless of the uncertainty involved in the situation, I knew that if an invasion does occur, then the transport infrastructure would be the first to suffer, making it very difficult and very expensive to leave the country with a significant risk to life,” he said.

As a first year medical student, he explained to The Birmingham Tab: “It felt good on the basis of returning to my family and continuing my studies online, as I am still pre-clinical and don’t need to be in the hospital as much as the upper years.

“The school have been very proactive in sending out notices and emails about on the ground situations,” Haider recounted, “and about how best to support their students, whether they are back in England or still in Dnipro, Ukraine.”

Reminiscent of his time at Birmingham, he said: “I also felt good that I could come back and use the study spaces at UoB to add a bit of nostalgia that I have over the three years I had here in my first degree.”

Since returning from Ukraine, Haider has been keen to share his experiences, establishing his own YouTube channel, Ali’s Media and starting a series entitled Lost in Ukraine. 

“I’m only a small channel, he said to The Birmingham Tab, “but I’m trying to inform people on graduate entry medicine alternatives like my journey in Ukraine.”

Haider told The Birmingham Tab that he is remaining positive about the future. “Hopefully everything calms down and then I go back when the UK declares it an amber zone again.

“Regardless, I’m going back in June to do my medical state licensing exam part 1 called Krok1. Every student has to do it in person before progressing onto the clinical years,” he said.

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