About 370 Nigerian students have been trapped in a Ukrainian city that has been surrounded by Russian troops and possibly facing harm as Russian Forces intensify their assaults on Ukrainian cities in a war that has entered into its Seventh Day on Wednesday.
Second Secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine in Abuja Bohdan Soltys disclosed this to LEADERSHIP in an interview on Wednesday. He said that the students in the city of Sumy have been trapped and have no easy exit because the city has been surrounded by Russian troops.
He urged the Nigerian Government and the international organizations, especially humanitarian agencies to act urgently to save the beleaguered Nigerian students from the “rampaging and vicious” Russian troops.
“Sumy University is one of the best universities in Ukraine and it has hundreds of Nigerian students. 370 Nigerian students are stranded in this city because it is now surrounded by Russian troops and they cannot get out. I believe the embassy of Nigeria in Ukraine should call on Nigerian government to negotiate with Russia to create a green corridor for the students to get out of the city,” the envoy said.
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Meanwhile President Muhammadu Buhari has approved $8.5 million for the immediate evacuation of at least 5,000 Nigerians fleeing the Ukrainian crisis triggered by the invasion of Russia.
Zubairu Dada, Minister of State for Foreign affairs, said the approval was issued on Wednesday at the federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Dada said Air Peace and Max Air airlines have been contracted to provide three aircraft to facilitate the evacuation of Nigerians and bring them home in safety and dignity.
The Nigerian public is today expecting the evacuation of Nigerians who have found their way to Hungary, Poland Hungary and other eastern European countries as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a move that has elicited global condemnation and sanctions.
