Fighting Hampers Evacuation of Indonesian Citizens
The evacuation of 13 Indonesian citizens in Ukraine has been hampered by violations of the ceasefire agreement.
By
KRIS MADA
·4 minutes read
Kementerian Luar Negeri RI
Indonesian citizens who were evacuated from Ukraine arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang on Thursday (3/3/2022). The government evacuated the 80 Indonesian citizens by plane from Romania. There are still 14 Indonesian citizens detained in Ukraine, of which 5 are already preparing to cross to Poland. The rest are still trapped in areas surrounded by Russian troops.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The evacuation of 13 Indonesian citizens in Ukraine has been hampered by violations of the ceasefire agreement. Kyiv and Moscow accused other parties as the cause of the failure to provide the humanitarian corridor. The Kyiv-Moscow negotiations are also still deadlocked as several major Ukrainian cities are increasingly besieged by Russian troops.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s citizen protection director, Judha Nugraha, said there were still nine Indonesian citizens in Chernihiv, while the other four were in Lviv. “The evacuation is still underway,” he said from Ukraine, Thursday (10/3/2022).
Indonesians living in Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, will soon be evacuated to Poland. They will be flown to Indonesia from there. Meanwhile, the nine Indonesians in Chernihiv have taken refuge in the plastic factory where they worked.
Evacuations still cannot be carried out because the route is still a battleground, full of gunfire and bombing. Currently, Chernihiv is surrounded by Russian troops in almost all directions. There is only one road to the south that connects the city to Kyiv.
However, the problem is that Kyiv is also surrounded by Russian troops, who have halted just outside the shortest range of their rockets. The road between Chernihiv and Kiev also continues to be a site of fighting.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitscho said 2 million people had left Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine on 21 Feb. 2022. Some are still stuck in the Ukrainian capital. Some residents, in fact, have chosen to become militia against Russia. Kyiv is now inhabited by only half of its population.
Most Kyiv residents left the city heading westward, leaving through one main route. This is because on other routes, several bridges connecting Kyiv with several cities have been damaged.
Kementerian Luar Negeri RI
An Indonesian mother and baby who were evacuated from Ukraine arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang on Thursday (3/3/2022). The government evacuated 80 Indonesian citizens by plane from Romania.
Path of humanity
Because many people have fled, the path of humanity is constantly being pursued. Indonesia continues to contact several parties to make way for this route.
Between Russia and Ukraine, efforts were made through negotiations in Belarus and Turkey. During the fourth round of talks in Turkey on Thursday afternoon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. The meeting was facilitated by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
After the meeting, Kuleba said no agreement on a ceasefire was reached in the negotiations in Antalya. “Ukraine cannot stop the war if the other side will not give up. We are looking for a diplomatic solution. However, as long as we have not achieved this, we will firmly defend our homeland from Russian attacks,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lavrov claimed that a ceasefire was not on the agenda for his talks with Kuleba.
The negotiations instead discussed a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy. “President Putin never refuses to communicate. However, the president does not want this communication to be just small talk. It must lead to an agreement,” said Lavrov.
Cavusoglu said it was impossible to reach an agreement in the first meeting, but it was a good start. Moreover, Kyiv and Moscow have agreed to continue negotiations.
In Moscow, Putin received calls from French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. They urged Putin to immediately agree to a ceasefire and ensure the distribution of humanitarian aid and facilitate evacuations.
Scholz called Putin after easing up on Russia. Most recently, Germany refused to stop oil imports from Russia, as the United States and United Kingdom have done. It was not just Scholz that showed a change of attitude. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell agreed with Scholz, saying it was impossible for the EU to stop energy imports from Russia.
While Kuleba and Lavrov negotiated, gunfights in Ukraine continued. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine was hit by a Russian missile. According to him, the Ukrainian militia designated the hospital as a detention site. After learning that a Russian missile was aimed at the area, the militia escaped while civilians in the hospital remained as targets.
