ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Saturday the country’s embassy in Ukraine was evacuating students and embassy staff from Ukraine as Russia continued its full-scale invasion of the European country.
Russian troops captured the city of Melitopol in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhya region, Russia’s defense ministry said on Saturday, the first significant population center to be taken over since Moscow launched an invasion. The ministry also said Russia had used air- and ship-based cruise missiles to carry out overnight strikes on military targets in Ukraine. It said Russian troops had hit hundreds of military infrastructure targets and destroyed several aircraft and dozens of tanks and armored and artillery vehicles.
Amid Russia’s invasion, thirty-five Pakistani nationals were evacuated to Poland from Ukraine on Friday night, Pakistan’s Embassy in Ukraine said. On Saturday, the foreign office said another 70 students were evacuated from Kharkiv city, “which is one of the main battle grounds between Ukraine and Russian forces.”
“They will be received today [Saturday] at around 11am by Embassy facilitation desk at Lviv Railway station,” the foreign office said.
In a separate message sent to the media, the ministry said another 23 Pakistani students had come to the Lviv Facilitation Desk from different cities in Ukraine and would be transported to the Polish border by the embassy.
The Pakistan Embassy in Poland had said on Thursday the Polish government had allowed Pakistani citizens stranded in Ukraine to travel to the country by land within 15 days.
Coronavirus restrictions, showing proof of vaccination and quarantine protocols were suspended from Friday, it said.
— Pakistan Embassy Poland (@PakinPoland_) February 25, 2022
The foreign office also said the embassy in Ukraine was evacuating 12 family members of embassy staff, who were being moved to the Ukraine-Romania border.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday around 3,000 Pakistanis were stranded in Ukraine. Pakistan’s embassy had initially asked them to gather in the Ukrainian city of Ternopil, close to Poland’s border, from where they would be evacuated.
In an audio message shared on Twitter, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine Dr. Noel Israel Khokhar said a majority of students had been evacuated from Ukraine and the embassy would ensure the rest were also safely evacuated.
He said the embassy was in close contact with Pakistani students despite difficulties as Ukraine’s banking system had gone down, the country’s airspace had been closed and fuel was running short across the country.
