Russia is optimizing the staff of diplomatic institutions in Ukraine, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow fears provocations from the Ukrainian side. Several countries have already announced the evacuation of their diplomatic missions. Also, more states are calling on citizens to leave the territory of Ukraine or not to visit it because of the threat of hostilities. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to optimize the staff of its foreign missions in Ukraine due to the risk of provocations from Kiev or third parties. This was written by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova in her Telegram channel.

“Our American and British colleagues are apparently aware of some military actions being prepared in Ukraine that could significantly complicate the security situation,” she said.

According to Zakharova, Russia has decided to optimize the staffing of its diplomatic institutions in Ukraine, fearing possible provocations from Kiev and other players.

“We draw your attention to the fact that our embassies and consulates will continue to perform their main functions,” the representative of the Foreign Ministry said.

Back to news » Back to news »

Are Russian diplomats being evacuated?

Earlier, the RIA Novosti agency, citing a source, reported that employees of the Russian embassy in Kiev began to leave Ukraine.

“According to the statements of Ukrainian citizens, Russian diplomats and consular officers in Ukraine began to leave for Russia. This, in particular, is evidenced by the difficulties encountered when making an appointment at the consulates and embassies,” the source said.

He expressed the opinion that Moscow, against the background of official announcements of the evacuation of diplomats from Western countries, could go the same way.

“By the way, Sergei Lavrov hinted at the possibility of such a scenario during a press conference following negotiations with [Foreign Minister] Elizabeth Truss,” he recalled.

During a press conference on February 10, the head of the Russian diplomatic department admitted the possibility of a temporary evacuation of the staff of diplomatic institutions, as Western countries do.

The Russian embassy in Kiev stated that it was operating "as usual" and was currently "optimizing staffing."

“We continue our work,” the representative of the diplomatic mission said in an interview with TASS. Earlier, the embassy in Kiev reported that they were studying the issue of temporary evacuation of non-essential staff of the diplomatic mission.

Zakharova, in turn, recalled that "rumors about the alleged evacuation of Russian diplomats appeared in a number of Western publications, in particular, in The New York Times almost a month ago."

According to her, "the purpose of these stuffing was to create an informational cover for the start of the evacuation by the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and other countries of diplomats and their families from their embassies in Ukraine."

Back to news »

Which countries are evacuating their diplomats?

At the end of January, some employees of the US diplomatic mission in Ukraine were evacuated as a “precautionary measure” due to the upcoming “invasion”.

Britain, Germany and Australia have also announced plans to evacuate embassy staff. Many countries - Canada, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Estonia, Japan, New Zealand and others - called on their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. The authorities of Switzerland and Sweden urged citizens to postpone trips to Ukraine for tourism purposes, as well as to be ready to urgently leave the country if necessary. The Spanish Foreign Ministry is ready to evacuate the staff of its embassy if necessary, TASS reports. Austria takes the same position.

In total, there are already about 20 states in different lists.

On February 12, the Belgian Foreign Ministry "strongly recommended" the country's citizens to leave Ukrainian territory, and the Kuwaiti authorities called on their citizens to similar actions.

The British Foreign Office also advised the country's subjects to refrain from traveling to Ukraine, and citizens staying there to leave due to the threat of "military action."

“I am staying in Kyiv and continuing to work with the core team,” wrote British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons on her Twitter page. “The embassy continues to work.”

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced on February 11 a further reduction in the number of personnel at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine and called on all Americans to leave the country immediately. The diplomatic mission confirmed this information.

“Today, the State Department ordered non-critical diplomats to leave the U.S. Embassy in Kiev due to persistent reports of a Russian military buildup on the border with Ukraine, indicating the possibility of serious military action,” the embassy said on Twitter.

Israel also announced the evacuation of embassy personnel in Kiev.

Back to news »

Kyiv is preparing for war

Kyiv City Hall has created evacuation commissions in each district and developed an evacuation plan, as well as prepared the city's infrastructure for a possible emergency.“City services today are already working in the conditions of preventing a military emergency. Therefore, our efforts are aimed at preventing or overcoming possible provocations and withstanding a military attack,” said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

The number of shelters has been tripled in Kiev. The city has built 4.5 thousand underground parking lots and passages, deepened metro stations and basements that can become places for shelters.

Klitschko said that the Kiev authorities are deploying the forces of the territorial brigade to defend the city. The administration also negotiated additional power generation at the CHP plant, stockpiled fuel and installed power generators. Enough energy for 10 days. Critical enterprises were provided with uninterrupted communication.

Klitschko has previously stated that Kiev does not want to believe in the possibility of an escalation of the conflict.

“Nobody wants blood, nobody wants confrontation. But there is a good proverb: “If you want peace, prepare for war,” the mayor said.

bbabo.Net