The Embassy of Pakistan in Ukraine has advised that 'now, there is no safe place in Ukraine' in a fact sheet issued on Sunday regarding current evacuation efforts amid escalating attacks from Russian troops.
The Embassy stated that 4,000 Pakistanis, mostly married to Ukrainians, have already left the country on the advice of the Embassy. It added that 3,000 Pakistani students have already exited the country, but between 600 and 700 students remained.
Dozens of desperate students stranded in Ukraine have posted videos on social media pleading for assistance from the Pakistani Embassy. The Embassy noted that it is providing accommodation to students in Ternopil, where the mission relocated last week after Kiev was attacked, and said the embassy was facilitating border crossings into Poland and Hungary. As of Sunday night, over 370 Pakistanis were waiting at the Ukraine-Poland border crossing, while six had made their way to the Ukraine-Hungary border.
"The Government of Ukraine is dysfunction, yet the Embassy is making all out efforts to facilitate evacuation of Pakistanis from Ukraine", the statement read.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday to discuss the evacuation of Pakistani citizens and students, and the Pakistani Ambassador to Ukraine Dr Noel Khokar also spoke with the deputy internal affairs minister to discuss the same.
Some students who spoke to the Friday Times have claimed that evacuation efforts from the Pakistani embassy were uncoordinated and reported that in many cases, they had to fend for themselves and journey to the border on their own.
“If we had waited for the embassy to reply to us, we would have been stuck in Kyiv by now, so we decided to leave in our cars, straight away for the Poland border," said one student.
In the face of international condemnation, Russia has continued its full-on assault of Ukraine, as civilian causalities now figure in the hundreds.
The Embassy stated that 4,000 Pakistanis, mostly married to Ukrainians, have already left the country on the advice of the Embassy. It added that 3,000 Pakistani students have already exited the country, but between 600 and 700 students remained.
Dozens of desperate students stranded in Ukraine have posted videos on social media pleading for assistance from the Pakistani Embassy. The Embassy noted that it is providing accommodation to students in Ternopil, where the mission relocated last week after Kiev was attacked, and said the embassy was facilitating border crossings into Poland and Hungary. As of Sunday night, over 370 Pakistanis were waiting at the Ukraine-Poland border crossing, while six had made their way to the Ukraine-Hungary border.
"The Government of Ukraine is dysfunction, yet the Embassy is making all out efforts to facilitate evacuation of Pakistanis from Ukraine", the statement read.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday to discuss the evacuation of Pakistani citizens and students, and the Pakistani Ambassador to Ukraine Dr Noel Khokar also spoke with the deputy internal affairs minister to discuss the same.
Some students who spoke to the Friday Times have claimed that evacuation efforts from the Pakistani embassy were uncoordinated and reported that in many cases, they had to fend for themselves and journey to the border on their own.
“If we had waited for the embassy to reply to us, we would have been stuck in Kyiv by now, so we decided to leave in our cars, straight away for the Poland border," said one student.
In the face of international condemnation, Russia has continued its full-on assault of Ukraine, as civilian causalities now figure in the hundreds.