ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry has instructed the Colombo mission in Ankara to take appropriate measures to coordinate the safe passage of the remaining Sri Lankan nationals in Ukraine.
“In view of escalation of the situation in Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry has instructed the Sri Lanka Embassy in Ankara, which is concurrently accredited to Kyiv, to take appropriate measures to coordinate the safe passage of the remaining Sri Lankan nationals in Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday (24).
The Ministry urged Sri Lankan nationals in Ukraine to contact the 24×7 hotline established at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Ankara via +90 534 456 94 98 (mobile) or +90 312 427 10 32 (land line) or slemb.ankara@mfa.gov.lk.
The Foreign Ministry earlier this week urged all Sri Lankan nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Ukraine at present.
The Ministry also said six out of 14 Sri Lankan students in Ukraine had left the country and that the Sri Lankan embassy in Ankara was in touch with the remaining eight.
Ukrainian forces fought with Russian invaders on three sides on Thursday after Moscow unleashed the biggest attack on a European state since World War II, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, international media reported.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a pre-dawn televised address, explosions and gunfire were heard through the day in Ukraine’s capital and elsewhere in the country, with at least 70 people reported killed, Reuters reported on Friday. (Colombo/Feb25/2022)
