Kyiv: Russia has begun evacuating diplomatic personnel from Ukraine, according to the Russian embassy in Kyiv, a day after lawmakers in Moscow granted President Vladimir Putin the authority to use force abroad.
When asked if the evacuation had begun, embassy spokesman Denis Golenko said over the phone: “Yes.”
Moscow’s foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that diplomats would be evacuated from the country soon in order to “protect their lives.”
According to eyewitnesses, the Russian flag was lowered over the embassy’s building.
Several families were seen leaving the embassy with suitcases, according to an AFP reporter.
The evacuation, according to Golenko, was “related 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 the United Kingdom, relocated their staff to Lviv, near the Polish border.
Source: NDTV
