Russia-Ukraine war: First group of Ghanaian evacuees arrive in Accra

The first batch of Ghanaians, including students fleeing war torn-Ukraine, have arrived safely at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.

A total of 17 people touched down via two flights from Instanbul, Turkey and Doha, Qatar.

The Turkish Airlines aircraft, Airbus A330-303, is reported to have landed at about 6:30 am, while Qatar’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner arrived at about 7:30 am on Tuesday, 3 March 2022.

About 220 are expected to arrive in Ghana within the week.

Ghanaian officials, including the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong and Deputy Minister of Information, Madam Fatima Abubakar, were at the arrival section of the KIA to receive the group.

This is expected to provide hope to over 450 others who have fled the eastern European country following Russia’s military incursion on Ukrainian soil.

Russia launched a full attack on Ukraine Thursday, February 24, with reports of death tolls exceeding 200 within three days.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said on Sunday, 27 February 2022, that her team was working earnestly to facilitate the safe return of a lot more.

She explained to the press that: “As at 12:00hrs GMT today (27th February), information gathered was that over four hundred and sixty (460) students had left Ukraine en route to Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.  The students will be received by officials of our Diplomatic Missions, honorary consuls and officials of the Ghana students’ associations”.

She revealed that the government of Ghana had secured passage through Hungary on a visa-free basis for Ghanaian students who are in possession of Ghanaian passports.

“We are told the Hungarian government is also providing coordinated assistance to enable our nationals to reach airports in Budapest or Debrecen. The Government of Ghana is grateful to the Hungarian Government,” She stated.

Further interventions by the government include a request to five European countries bordering Ukraine (Moldova, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) to facilitate easy passage into their countries by our compatriots.

“Fortunately, the government of Moldova has officially indicated its willingness to facilitate the passage of foreign nationals based on a structured exercise”.

Ms Ayorkor Botchwey explained that the government was using these options because of the closure of Ukrainian airspace.

Due to that, “it had become a challenge to airlift our compatriots from Kyiv and other parts of the country, thus, leaving the only viable option of evacuation by land”.

She explained that there were three (3) cities in Ukraine where students could not be evacuated due to the high-risk situation identified there.

These cities are: Kharkiv (hotspot on the way), Sumy (hotspot on the way), and Dnipropetrovsk (locked down).

What is happening in Ukraine?

Russian forces have launched a military assault on neighbouring Ukraine, crossing its borders and bombing military targets near big cities.

In a televised address, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, reportedly ordered a “military operation” in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, but what’s been launched goes far further and amounts to a full-scale attack on the country.

Russian military vehicles were said to have breached the border in several places, in the north, south, and east, including from Belarus.

CCTV images issued by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reportedly show Russian military vehicles moving across the border from Crimea.

Emergency sirens sounded in Kyiv, and huge traffic jams have built up as residents flee the city.

Several Ukrainian cities have fallen under Russia’s control, with the death toll exceeding 200.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a ceasefire and agreed to peace talks which ended in stalemate on Monday, 28 February 2022.

Russia is attacking Ukraine on several fronts, but its advance has been slowed by Ukrainian resistance.

Russia said both sides had agreed to continue talking and would meet again “in the next few days”.

The UN and western countries have imposed sanctions, Russia’s BRICS allies such as South Africa and China have called for dialogue, while ECOWAS has condemned the invasion of Ukraine.

In other developments:

• Canada banned Russian oil imports.
• More than half a million people have fled their homes to escape the war in Ukraine, the UN says.
• President Putin put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert after comments by UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and others, the Kremlin has said.
• Mr Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron have had a telephone conversation in which the Russian leader called for Moscow’s legitimate security interests to be addressed.
• Football’s world governing body, Fifa, and Europe’s governing body, Uefa, have suspended Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions.

Why has Russia attacked Ukraine?

There have been hostilities between Russia and Ukraine after the former became a sovereign state after breaking away from the Soviet Union.

However, in 2021, the situation escalated after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his desire to US President Joe Biden to approve admission to join NATO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Ukraine is a puppet of the West and allowing a partnership with NATO will give the West access to set up military bases closer to Russia, which could facilitate an attack on Moscow.

Russia has demanded that the West gives a legally binding guarantee that NATO will not hold any military activity in eastern Europe and Ukraine.

Russia further wants Ukraine to desist from any NATO membership.

The new tension between Russia and Ukraine, which also borders the European Union, has political and economic repercussions for the EU.

Consequently, the EU, most of who are NATO signatories, have joined the US in announcing sanctions against Russian entities.