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Ukraine invasion: Malaysian diplomats flee Kyiv by road as government draws flak for evacuation bungling
- Eight Malaysians and two foreign national dependents embarked on a 782km trip after a chartered bus failed to arrive amid heavy traffic along Ukraine’s western border with Poland
- The foreign ministry, which dismissed the intelligence on the Russian attack as a ‘Western narrative’, came under fire for messing up the rescue mission
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Malaysia’s diplomats stranded in Kyiv are currently making their way to neighbouring Poland by road, after hanging in limbo earlier as Russian forces closed in on the under-siege Ukrainian capital.
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Their evacuation was confirmed by Malaysian government sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the embassy was “currently undertaking evacuation of the remaining eight Malaysian nationals and two of their foreign dependents from Kyiv”.
He said 13 other Malaysians had left Ukraine in recent weeks.
Malaysian government sources told This Week in Asia that the evacuation plan had earlier been stymied after a chartered bus failed to arrive amid intense traffic along Ukraine’s western border with Poland.
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