KUALA LUMPUR – The Foreign Affairs Ministry has denied accusations of the government bungling the evacuation of the last Malaysians in Ukraine, refuting that they were forced to travel by road to Poland to escape the Russian invasion.
In a statement today, Wisma Putra said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob decided on February 26 to activate a detailed evacuation plan which the government had discussed during the cabinet meeting on February 16.
It added that the plan is an addition to the standard emergency evacuation measure in place at all Malaysian embassies, including the one in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
“Allegations such as embassy officials fleeing absence of standard operating procedures for evacuation and so on, which have been featured in (news) media and social media news reports are completely unfounded.
“The evacuation mission of Malaysian citizens from Ukraine and sensitive information such as evacuation plans have not been disclosed to the public in order to ensure the safety of all involved in the mission,” it said.
It added that the approach was important to ensure that the mission took place with no hitches and according to the set plan.
Besides, it said that prior to the evacuation, developments in Ukraine had been closely monitored and communications were underway with embassy officials in the nation.
According to Wisma Putra, Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah had also been involved in the above measures.
Earlier today, Wisma Pura had announced that the last nine Malaysian diplomats in Kyiv finally managed to escape war-torn Ukraine through neighbouring Poland.
The convoy which includes two Malaysian embassy officials, two Ukrainian dependents and a Singaporean, is set to leave Warsaw, Poland for Malaysia on a commercial flight tomorrow.
Following the evacuation of the officials in question – Malaysian embassy’s First Secretary Fadhilah Daud and Second Secretary Aminuddin Osman – the embassy has been temporarily closed.
On February 14, 13 Malaysians had left Ukraine on the advice of the Malaysian embassy in Kyiv.
Yesterday, the South China Morning Post had published a report that quoted unnamed government sources pointing their finger at Ismail Sabri and Saifuddin for mishandling the evacuation efforts, which caused the evacuees to flee by road.
Wisma Putra today confirmed that the evacuation had indeed been done by road in a procession of four cars, two of which belonged to the Malaysian embassy in Kyiv.
Ismail Sabri had yesterday only mentioned eight Malaysians instead of nine in his announcement of the evacuation mission, and had failed to note that the evacuation was being carried out by road. – The Vibes, February 27, 2022
