Embassies do not plan evacuation from Kyiv amid Russian bombardments, Foreign Ministry confirms

KYIV – Ukraine has received no notification from any foreign diplomatic mission of an intention to relocate from Kyiv, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Friday, as The Kyiv Independent reports.

The statement came from Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi, who told journalists that embassies are obliged to inform the Ukrainian authorities if they plan to relocate. “If any diplomatic mission is planning to relocate, it informs us; that is the established procedure,” Tykhyi said, adding that by the evening of October 2 the Ministry had received no such request.

The reaction comes after a senior, unnamed diplomat, cited by the British newspaper The Guardian, raised concerns that embassies in Kyiv were preparing emergency evacuation plans because of the escalation of Russian attacks. According to the reporting, the diplomat said the situation in the Ukrainian capital was “clearly deteriorating rapidly” and that the possibility of relocating to Lviv or eastern Poland was being considered — but these measures would come into force only if Russia began deliberately targeting foreign diplomatic missions.

Otherwise, according to The Kyiv Independent, the embassies intend to stay in Kyiv, even though Russian forces are continuously striking schools, homes, bridges and energy facilities in the city.

This is not the first time Russia has tried to pressure diplomatic missions to leave. In May, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a public warning of a new wave of long-range strikes on Kyiv, calling on foreign nationals, including diplomats, to leave the city. The diplomats stayed, and around 50 countries issued a joint statement at a UN meeting in New York on May 26 in support of Ukraine.