T&T national, wife, still struck in Ukraine

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Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne said yesterday that his ministry is still working on evacuating a T&T national and his wife from war-torn Ukraine.

On Friday, Browne confirmed that his ministry had identified the man, who has been living with his Ukrainian wife in that country’s capital Kyiv for the past 11 years.

Yesterday, Browne said that an overland exit route was confirmed but the couple’s exit was hampered by a curfew imposed by Ukrainian authorities, who are continuing to resist the invasion from Russia, which began on Thursday.

“We are working with a broad team, that includes our permanent representative to the United Nations, to explore all possibilities to facilitate our national in getting to the relative safety of one of the neighbouring countries,” he said.

He noted that he and this country’s ambassador in Brussels, Belgium, were in constant communication with the man.

“Our national remains calm and in good spirits and reports that there has been no fighting or gunshots or explosions whatsoever in his part of the capital, apart from an aircraft which was struck whilst flying overhead, two nights ago,” Browne said.

Browne said that on Saturday night he co-signed a letter seeking the swift assistance of Ukrainian authorities in helping evacuate citizens of Latin American and Caribbean countries.

On Saturday, Browne said that while the man was the only T&T national identified, his team was still investigating whether there are others who have not been registered or have not reached out for assistance.

Ukraine latest

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry says 352 Ukrainian civilians have been killed during Russia’s invasion, including 14 children.

It said an additional 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been wounded.

The ministry’s statement yesterday did not give any information on casualties among Ukraine’s armed forces.

Russia has claimed that its troops are targeting only Ukrainian military facilities and says that Ukraine’s civilian population is not in danger.

Russia has not released any information on casualties among its troops. The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged on Sunday only that Russian soldiers have been killed and wounded, without giving any numbers.

President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West tensions by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert yesterday, while Ukraine’s embattled leader agreed to talks with Moscow as Putin’s troops and tanks drove deeper into the country.

Citing “aggressive statements” by NATO, Putin issued a directive to increase the readiness of Russia’s nuclear weapons — a step that raised fears that the invasion of Ukraine could boil over into nuclear war, whether by design or mistake.

The Russian leader is “potentially putting in play forces that, if there’s a miscalculation, could make things much, much more dangerous,” said a senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Amid the mounting tensions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office announced that the two sides would meet at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border, where a Russian delegation was waiting Sunday.

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