At least 559 Kyrgyzstanis have been evacuated from Ukraine since the start of hostilities. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kyrgyz Republic to Ukraine Idris Kadyrkulov announced on his Facebook page.
According to him, earlier, 680 citizens of Kyrgyzstan were registered with the embassy, but the number of new requests for help is growing. About 93 people remain on the territory of Ukraine.
«On March 8, after another evacuation, there were 71 Kyrgyzstanis left, but over the past 2 days, another 22 citizens have asked for help,» the ambassador writes.
At least 31 people remain in the war zone:
- Nikolaev Oblast — 10;
- Kyiv Oblast, Borzel urban-type settlement — 3 (1 family);
- Zhytomyr Oblast, Panasivka village — 3;
- Kharkiv — 6 (all refused);
- Kyiv — 9 (all refused).
«Due to power outages and telephone communication cuts contacts with some of them are unstable. It is expected that these groups of citizens will be evacuated through humanitarian corridors, organization of which is being discussed with the Ukrainian side,» the diplomat said.
Idris Kadyrkulov explained that about a quarter of those who applied for help were not residents of Kyrgyzstan, but family members and former citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic.
«It is not a secret that the majority of people from this group have the citizenship of Ukraine, but have not renounced the citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, in connection with which they have expired internal passports of the Kyrgyz Republic. Given the general military mobilization and the ban on leaving Ukraine for men from 18 to 60 years old, citizens began to use the expired passports of the Kyrgyz Republic (ID) in order to leave the country, since they did not officially renounce citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic,» the ambassador noted.
Idris Kadyrkulov stressed that 50 percent of the remaining 93 citizens refuse to evacuate for various reasons: family and domestic circumstances, business activities, poor health of relatives, and etc.
Situation in Ukraine remains complicated. Fighting continues. Russia started a special military operation on February 24, 2022. The number of military and civilian casualties continues to grow. Many states have imposed and continue to impose severe sanctions on Russia. Humanitarian corridors have been opened for the evacuation of civilians from several Ukrainian cities.
