Russia begins evacuating diplomatic staff from Ukraine

By AFP 23 February 2022, 3:35 pm

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A woman shows a poster in support of Ukraine at a demonstration along the street near the Russian embassy to protest against the escalation of the tension between Russia and Ukraine in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday, February 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Russia had begun evacuating diplomatic staff from Ukraine, its embassy in Kyiv tells AFP, a day after lawmakers in Moscow granted Russian President Vladimir Putin permission to use force abroad.

Asked if the evacuation had begun, the embassy’s spokesman Denis Golenko tells AFP by phone: “Yes.”

Moscow’s foreign ministry announced Tuesday it would evacuate diplomats from the country soon, saying this was in order to “protect their lives.”

The Russian flag was lowered over the embassy’s building, according to eyewitnesses.

An AFP reporter saw several families leaving the embassy with suitcases.

Golenko says the evacuation was “linked to the fact that Western embassies announced evacuations of some of their staff, and that our ministry also took this decision.”

Some Western embassies, including the United States and Britain, moved their staff to the city of Lviv near the Polish border.

They did so fearing a Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying the capital could come under attack.