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South African students stranded in Ukraine being assisted: Ambassador

28 February 2022, 11:43 AM |

SABC | @SABCNews

A tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during military drills at a training ground near the border with Russian-annexed Crimea in Kherson region.

Image: Reuters

A tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during military drills at a training ground near the border with Russian-annexed Crimea in Kherson region.

Measures have been put in place to assist South African students stranded in the war-ridden Ukraine, the country’s ambassador said on Monday.

Scores of African students attempting to escape the country say they were stopped, harassed, and beaten at the country’s border with Poland.

Ukrainian police have also been reported to have stopped foreign nationals from exiting the country.

The South African Ambassador to Ukraine Andre Groenewald says they will leave no stone unturned in helping students evacuate Ukraine.

Groenewald says, “With regards to the students I am starting to be more optimistic now, many of the students we’ve been able to get, especially with train transport into the border. Last night we’ve started moving them through the border on the Polish side and we understand that the facility on the Polish side has food. They are getting food, clothes, they are getting a sim card. It’s a scary situation but we are here and helping and supporting in any way we can.”

South Africans stuck in the Ukraine urged to seek refuge in Poland

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) say South Africans, including students, stuck in Ukraine are urged to seek refuge in Poland.

As the war with Ukraine and Russia rages, air travel and public transport in the country have come to a halt.

The South African Embassy in Ukraine is attempting to arrange visas to other countries for students to transport them out of the increasingly volatile country.

However, on Sunday, South Africans were urged to avoid the Polish borders because officials there were inundated with people seeking to flee Ukraine.

A video shared on social media by a group assisting South Africans to leave the country warned that Ukrainian police were stopping foreign nationals from exiting the country, particularly at the Medyka border with Poland in Ukraine’s north-west.

South African students stranded in Ukraine: