New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS): War-hit Ukraine is the third most popular destination after China and the Philippines for Indian students pursuing medical studies. Every year, thousands of Indian students choose Ukraine for many reasons.

As per available data, around 18,000 Indian students are stranded in Ukraine which has been attacked by Russia with full military might.

Majority of the stranded students are pursuing medical courses. Around 1,000 students have been evacuated so far from the conflict-ridden nation.

Shakshi Yadav, whose younger brother and sister -- Mandeep Yadav and Mahima Yadav -- are studying medicine at the Lviv State Medical Institute in Ukraine, told IANS that fees are near to half in Ukraine as compared to India.

She said that apart from lower fees, better infrastructure and different patterns of study attract students from India.

"There is also a paucity of medical seats in India. We pay around Rs 10 lakh annually for each of them to pursue study in Ukraine," Shakahi said.

Shirish Mehta, who did his MBBS from Ukraine, said that the infrastructure in medical colleges in Ukraine is far better than in India, while the cost of medical education in Ukraine half compared to private colleges in India.

"If we talk about government medical colleges, annual cost of courses like MBBS is around Rs 3 lakh. On the other hand, in Indian private medical colleges, the cost rises to around Rs 20 lakh annually," he added.

Educationist C.S. Kandpal said that one of the major reasons for the popularity of medical courses in Ukraine is that students do not have to take any separate examination to join them, whereas NEET is conducted in India for admission to medical courses.

While lakhs of students appear in NEET every year, only about 40,000 get admission in government medical colleges. In such a situation, a large number of NEET qualified Indian students turn to Ukraine, he added.