Iraqi Official to Shafaq News: Iraqis still besieged in Kyiv, Sumy

Shafaq News/ Iraqi families are still stuck in Kyiv and Sumy of Ukraine. The Chargé d'Affaires of the Iraqi Embassy in Ukraine, Hussein Abbas, confirmed to Shafaq News Agency.

"Most of the Iraqi community members, including university students in Ukraine, were evacuated to safer areas, many of them left towards neighboring countries such as Poland," Abbas told our Agency.

He added, "some families are still stuck in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, and we are trying, in coordination with official and international bodies and relevant organizations, to secure them a safe passage to exit from the city besieged by Russian forces."

According to the Iraqi official, the total number of Iraqis in Ukraine is 5537, including 450 students, in different Ukrainian universities, especially in faculties of medicine," noting that "the capital, Kyiv, hosts the largest number of Iraqis."

Earlier today, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced granting visas to Ukrainian families of Iraqi fathers.

"The Iraqi Embassy in Ukraine has evacuated 500 members of the Iraqi community," the Minister's spokesperson, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, said in a statement.

Al-Sahaf added, "our embassy in Kyiv is working to evacuate 30 Iraqi families stuck in Sumy," adding, "We have granted dozens of visas for Ukrainian families of Iraqi fathers."

Earlier, the Iraqi official said that the Iraqi community in Ukraine is 5537, including 450 students.

Russia's war on Ukraine was on its eighth day, the talks between the two countries so far did not reach agreements, but both emphasized the importance of humanitarian corridors.