Iraqis in Ukraine haven't requested to be evacuated: Foreign Ministry

In December, the ministry asked its nationals to leave the eastern European country as tensions with Russia rose.

Kurdistan 24 2022/02/25 15:35

People look at the damage following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that its citizens in Ukraine haven't requested to leave the eastern European country after Russia launched a full-scale invasion.

"The Iraqi Embassy in Kyiv maintains its work under exceptional circumstances and have not received requests from the Iraqi community in Ukraine to leave," Ahmed al-Sahaf, the ministry's spokesperson, said in a statement released by the state-run media Iraqi News Agency on Friday.

In December, the ministry asked its nationals to leave the eastern European country as tensions with Russia rose.

In a phone call with the Chargé d'affaires of the Iraqi embassy in Kyiv on Thursday, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein discussed the "safety and security" of the diplomatic mission staff and the Iraqi community in the country, according to al-Sahaf.

A number of steps were taken to ensure the safety of the Iraqis in the country, he added, without elaborating.

There are more than 5,500 Iraqis currently living in Ukraine, 450 of whom are students at 37 universities, the spokesperson said.

The ministry announced on Thursday that it had asked the universities to grant Iraqi students "emergency study leave" in case the country's security further deteriorates.

Russian armed forces on early Thursday launched a sea, land, and air assault against Ukraine from the north, south, and east.

The Russian forces, which outnumber and outgun their Ukrainian counterparts, are approaching Ukraine's capital Kyiv, which they have already bombarded with missiles.