PETALING JAYA: The last group of nine Malaysians and two foreigners have been evacuated from Ukraine, says the Foreign Ministry.
It said in a statement on Sunday (Feb 27) that the Malaysian Embassy in Kyiv successfully carried out the evacuation mission of Malaysians from Ukraine on Saturday (Feb 26).
Among those involved were Embassy officials Fadhilah Daud and Aminuddin Osman as well as a Singaporean.
"The group left Kyiv by road on Friday (Feb 25) evening and entered Poland on the night of Feb 26. Their arrival at the Polish border was assisted by two officers from the Malaysian Embassy in Warsaw," said the Ministry.
It added that the group is scheduled to leave Warsaw for Malaysia on a commercial flight on Monday (Feb 28).
Prior to this, 13 Malaysians left Ukraine on Feb 14 on the advice of the Malaysian Embassy in Kyiv.
The Ministry said that the Malaysian Embassy in Kyiv has prepared evacuation plans to be activated if necessary.
"So far, only a few foreign embassies have suspended operations in Kyiv or relocated their operations to other cities in Ukraine," said the Ministry.
"The operation of the Malaysian Embassy in Kyiv had to be temporarily suspended as a result of two Embassy officials being directly involved in the implementation of this evacuation mission," it said.
The Ministry added that the movement of the evacuation mission was sensitive information and the plan was not disclosed to the public to ensure the safety of all involved.
A total of four cars were used to carry out the evacuation mission, including two Embassy vehicles.
The Ministry added that small vehicles were used instead of buses after taking account the numbers involved in the mission to ease movement and maintain safety throughout the journey.
Meanwhile, the Ministry expressed regret over media reports which sensationalised the issue, leading to baseless accusations on social media.
It said that the Malaysian Embassy in Kyiv and other Malaysian embassies have prepared evacuation plans to be activated whenever necessary.
"Allegations such as Embassy officials fleeing, the absence of standard operating procedures (SOP) for evacuations and so on which were published in media reports and social media are completely unfounded," said the Ministry.
