Ghanaian Nationals Stuck In Sumy Commences Journey Out; Foreign Affairs Ministry

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional integration says stuck Ghanaian nationals in Sumy, where the war between the Ukrainian forces and the Russian forces is intense, have begun the journey out.

Last week, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum, disclosed that the Russian and Ukrainian governments have agreed to create a safe passage for Foreigners stuck in bunkers in Sumy and Kharkiv where the war is at its intensity.

The deputy minister said, “We realised it was very precarious to be able to move them because we tried getting our ambassador to Moscow to intervene to try and move them across because Sumy is quite near to the Russian border, we realised that that will be very unsafe so we started to activate other sources to see if we can reach out to the Ukrainian and the Russian governments to see if they can create a safe passage.”

According to Apratwum, Ghana’s Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia engaged the Russian Ambassador to Ghana to reach out to its government to make way for Ghanaians stuck in the war intensified cities for their evacuation.

Additionally, he said the African Union (AU) appealed to the European Union (EU) to engage the Russians to let out their nationals which were eventually accepted by both of the warring sides.

In a statement dated March 8, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that about seventy per cent (70%) of the Ghanaian nationals hiding in Sumy bunkers are making the journey out.

“The Ministry is reliably informed that about 70% of our compatriots who were stranded in Sumy, close to the Russian border have commenced their journey to Myrhorod”, the statement said.

It further indicated that the Ghanaian compatriots from Myrhorod will be transported to the western border cities for onward transfer to neighborhouring countries, where they will be evacuated home.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini