MFA says 26 Kenyan students stranded in Ukraine rescued, headed to Poland » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 9 — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that 26 Kenyan students trapped in Ukraine had been evacuated, and were on their way to Poland.

The ministry reported that “the 26 students were evacuated from Sumy through the humanitarian corridor to Poltava and are currently on their way to the town of Lviv on the Ukraine border with Poland.”

According to MFA, the students were under the escort of officials from the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Kenya in Ukraine led by Dr Anatoliy Kovalenko, the Honorary Consul.

“The Republic of Kenya had also requested the Ukrainian Authorities to inform the state border services of the movement to ensure facilitation at the borders,” MFA stated.

On March 1, MFA coordinated the evacuation of seventy-eight Kenyans in Ukraine and according to the statement one student arrived back in Kenya having opted to return home.

The Ministry indicated at the time that 74 had crossed over to Poland, while two are in Romania, with another two in Hungary.

Four others opted to remain in Ukraine at the time.

The evacuations followed successful negotiations led by Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Amb Macharia Kamau who asked European Union (EU) states neighbouring Ukraine to facilitate Kenyans stranded at border points.

EU Member States bordering Ukraine agreed to open their borders for Kenyans fleeing the conflict with Russia on February 25.

Hundreds of thousands have fled Ukraine after Russia staged a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 in an escalation of a dispute which commenced in 2014.