Evacuation of Thais begins in Ukraine as conflict escalates
Ten Thais have arrived at Thailand’s evacuation centre in the Ukrainian border city of Lviv, with 20 to 30 more on their way by car or train from other cities in the war-torn country.
Meanwhile, 40 Thais have chartered a bus from Ukraine’s southwestern city of Odessa to the Romanian border, according to Royal Thai Embassy staff in Lviv.
Between 30 and 60 Thai nationals will be evacuated from the centre over the border to Warsaw in Poland on Monday (February 28). They will then catch a flight back to Thailand.
The evacuation of Thai nationals got underway following attacks by Russian troops on the capital, Kyiv, and other major Ukrainian cities.
However, Ukrainian authorities have urged people to stay in their location and imposed a curfew in Kyiv, extending from 5pm to 8am. Thai citizens in cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv have been instructed to stay in place for their safety.
On Sunday, 40 Thais from Odessa in the southwest of Ukraine took a chartered bus to the Ukrainian-Romanian border 300 kilometres away. The Royal Thai Embassy in Romania is arranging a bus to take them to Bucharest to catch a commercial flight to Thailand on Tuesday (March 1).
The Lviv evacuation centre has been set up by personnel from the Royal Thai Embassy in Warsaw, which also covers Ukraine.