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‘Govt working on safe evacuation of 1500 Pakistanis stranded in Ukraine’

Ukraine Khokhar

‘Govt working on safe evacuation of 1500 Pakistanis stranded in Ukraine’

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine Dr Noel Israel Khokhar said that the government was working on the safe evacuation of all Pakistan nationals stranded in Ukraine.

In a statement, the ambassador confirmed that overall 1,500 Pakistanis, including 500 students, were present in Ukraine who had been asked to move to safe locations.

Read more: US has informed Pakistan about ‘Ukraine position’: State Dept

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Embassy in Ukraine, in a tweet, said that the airspace of Ukraine was closed while the embassy was in touch with the Pakistani students, who could not leave earlier according to the advice given to them.

“As [the] situation improves, all Pakistani students should move to Tarnopil (sic) to enable evacuation,” said Pakistan’s Embassy in Ukraine in another tweet.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad confirmed on Twitter that Pakistan’s Embassy in Ukraine was available 24/7 to offer assistance to Pakistanis.

Sharing contact details of the embassy on the social media platform, the Embassy of Pakistan also said it was fully functional from Ternopil, Ukraine.

Explosions in Kyiv on second day of Russian attack

Invading Russian forces pressed deep into Ukraine as deadly battles reached the outskirts of Kyiv, with explosions heard in the capital early Friday that the besieged government described as “horrific rocket strikes”.

The blasts in Kyiv set off the second day of violence after Russian President Vladimir Putin defied Western warnings to unleash a full-scale ground invasion and air assault that quickly claimed dozens of lives and displaced at least 100,000 people.

The United States and its allies responded with a barrage of sanctions, but the Russian forces appeared intent Friday on pressing home their advantage after a string of key strategic victories on day one.

At least 137 “heroes” were killed during the first day of fighting, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, as he called up conscripts and reservists nationwide to fight in a general mobilisation.

Zelensky said there was now a “new iron curtain” between Russia and the rest of the world, like in the Cold War, adding in a later speech his nation had been “left alone”.

Read more: Russia-Ukraine crisis: PM Imran says disputes should be resolved thru dialogue, diplomacy

“Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone.”

And while the United States moved to impose sanctions on Russian elites and banks, it stressed that American forces would not head to eastern Europe to fight in Ukraine.

NATO said it had activated “defence plans” for allied countries. But its chief Jens Stoltenberg said there was no plan to send alliance forces into Ukraine.