Kiev, Europe Brief News – Thousands of foreigners, mainly students, are still trapped in Ukraine as military tension continue to rise.
470,000 foreign nationals are stranded in Ukraine, including students and migrant workers, the UN migration agency said.
The UN agency urged neighbouring countries to grant them refuge if they try to flee.
Russia says its assault from the north, east and south of Ukraine is not aimed at occupying territory. However, it called it a special operation to demilitarise and “denazify” the country – a justification dismissed by Kyiv and the West as war propaganda.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday dismissed allegations of Russian strikes on civilian targets and said reports of the use of cluster and vacuum bombs were fake. He categorically denied that Russia had committed war crimes.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled during the four days of conflict into neighbouring countries, mainly Poland, Hungary and Romania. The United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) says more than 500,000 people have fled Ukraine, nearly 300,000 of them entering Poland.
While most of the refugees are Ukrainian, among them are also students and migrant workers from further afield, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Nepal.
Rahmani, who is in his 40s, said he worked for NATO in Afghanistan for 18 years at Kabul airport.
He decided to leave the country four months before the US withdrawal after receiving threats.
“I had a good life in Afghanistan, I had a private house, I had a private car, I had a good salary.” “I sold my car, my house, my everything, I lost everything.”
Half a Million Flee War in Ukraine
Ukraine was the only country that would grant the family a visa. They set up home in Odesa, a Black Sea port city.
When Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, they left everything again and travelled to the border.
More than half a million people have fled their homes to escape the war in Ukraine, the UN said Monday.
The UN said millions of civilians remain in makeshift bomb shelters such as underground rail stations to escape explosions.
Since the invasion began last Thursday, her office has recorded 102 civilian deaths, including seven children and 300 injured.
