Fear-stricken Ukraine is in dilemma as Russia evacuated diplomatic staff from its missions in the war-prone country, TASS news agency reported on Wednesday.
In the latest ominous signs for Ukrainians who fear an all-out Russian military onslaught, Ukraine declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and told its citizens in Russia to immediately return home.
The embassy as well as the consulate general in Odessa was seen on Wednesday with Russian flags taken down, a representative of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv told the news agency.
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“Several cars left the territory of the consulate in the morning,” a member of the Ukrainian National Guard who was on duty near the Russian consulate in Odessa told Reuters.
Russia’s foreign ministry announced an evacuation of diplomatic staff from Ukraine for what it called safety reasons on Tuesday, a day after President Vladimir Putin recognised independence of two breakaway regions in Ukraine’s east and ordered Russian troops “to keep peace” there, while massing military along Ukrainian borders.
The United States and its allies unveiled more sanctions against Russia on Wednesday over its recognition of the two separatist areas, while making clear they were keeping tougher measures in reserve in case of a full-scale invasion by Moscow
Last week a video showing smoke rising from the Russian Embassy’s chimney circulated online. An employee said that staff had burnt documents before departure, TASS quoted him as saying on Wednesday.
“This is an ordinary procedure. In cases like we have now there is a set of measures that should be taken for security reasons,” the employee said, according to TASS.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry requested President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to break off diplomatic ties with Russia in response the recognition of independence of separatist-held regions.
Shelling intensified at the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, where Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised the independence of two Moscow-backed rebel regions this week and has ordered the deployment of Russian forces as “peacekeepers”.
Convoys of military equipment including nine tanks moved towards eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk from the direction of the Russian border, a Reuters witness reported.
But there was still no clear indication of whether Putin will launch a massed assault on Ukraine with the tens of thousands of troops he has gathered near the border. A U.S. defence official said the Russian forces were “as ready as they can be” for an attack.
