Evacuate us to safety – Ghanaian students in Ukraine cry to gov’t

Ghanaian students in Ukraine are calling for the Ghana government’s urgent assistance to guarantee their safety following Russia’s invasion of the country.

The president of the Ukraine chapter of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Philip Bobie Ansah in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday said there is an estimated 1,200 Ghanaian students in Ukraine with over 900 confirmed and registered with the union.

He said the Ukraine-Russia situation has left many of the students anxious, as they have no idea what lies ahead.

“They [Russians] are not actually targeting civilian infrastructure, but the military bases. Of course, it is raising tension and panic. Students are anxious and panicking. On the record we have 959 students here, but I estimate about 1,200 students, but there are also others who are non-students in Ukraine,” he said.

Bobie Ansah said attempts to reach Ghana’s embassy responsible for Ukraine for immediate action on the situation of Ghanaians in the country has not yielded any positive result as the only information received from the embassy indicated that no action would be taken unless as directed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

“We hadn’t heard anything from the Embassy, but they later said until they hear a directive from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they can’t take any action.”

He called on the government to make efforts to evacuate them before matters get worse.

“We are far out of options now and the best option is to get us to safety and that means evacuation but this morning as the strikes began, Ukraine closed its airspace. We are continually encouraging our people to stay indoors and get as much provisions as possible,” he said.

“We’ve also sent locations of bomb-shelters to our members so that they can find safety in case civilian infrastructures become the target. We want the government to come to our aid. We can’t leave on our own unless the government intervenes,” he added.

Most Ghanaian students in Ukraine are in Kyiv and Kharkiv, the two main cities targeted by Russian missiles.

Bobie Ansah said per records available to him, no Ghanaian citizen is in Donetsk and Luhansk.