The UK ambassador in Kiev has issued British nationals in Ukraine a “red” warning and told them to leave immediately
Melinda Simmons said staff at the embassy in the Ukrainian capital were helping UK citizens flee the country as a Russian invasion looms.
Vladimir Putin has massed more than 100,000 troops on the border, but the Russian president reportedly began pulling soldiers back on Tuesday in a possible de-escalation of the threat of invasion.
Ms Simmons said: “We have been reaching out to British nationals who have signed up for our alerts, and those that haven’t, to help them work out how to leave the country, which is now our advice since we changed our travel advice to red.
“We’re still advising British nationals to leave the country as soon as they can.”
Ms Simmons has vowed to remain in Kiev with her core team of diplomats while British nationals scramble to get flights home.
The UK Government has told citizens they cannot expect a “military airlift” from Ukraine, and that they should leave via commercial means “while they are still available”.
US citizens have also been told to leave the country. The US State Department is also warning against travel to neighbouring Moldova and Belarus because of “concerning Russian military activity”.
The Kremlin has denied it plans to launch an attack.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there will remain a British “presence” in Kiev as it is “important that we are supporting citizens” but most staff have moved to Lviv in the west of Ukraine.
“We do think it is very important that we are supporting British citizens in Ukraine and we do have a presence in Kiev, but, clearly, I’m constantly looking at our staff safety to make sure they are protected,” she told BBC’s Today Programme.
On whether, in the case of a Russian invasion, Britain will take some refugees in, Ms Truss said: “First of all, the point I would make is that we have asked British citizens to leave Ukraine while there are still commercial flight routes available, because if there was an invasion of Ukraine it’s going to be very difficult to leave Ukraine.
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“We are working on humanitarian assistance with other countries and with the international NGOs, but we can’t make any commitments about any refugees at this stage.”
