Talha Yavuz
02 March 2022•Update: 02 March 2022
KYIV, Ukraine
An evacuation train carrying Turkish citizens has departed the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for the city of Chernivtsi, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border with Romania.
Around 1,000 people evacuated by the train will return to Turkiye via Romania, according to an announcement by the Turkish Embassy in Kyiv.
Due to the war in the country and the danger of attacks by Russian sabotage groups, the train stopped many times and traveled with its lights off.
The Turkish Ambassador to Ukraine, Yagmur Ahmet Guldere, told reporters at the train station that Ukraine is going through a difficult period but it is taking care to ensure the safety of Turkish citizens.
"During this time, we started the evacuations with buses. Unfortunately, we cannot evacuate by plane due to the fact that the airspace is closed," Guldere said.
She said they organized train services for evacuation from Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, under very difficult security conditions so that they would ensure the exit of citizens in the most difficult situations.
Ramazan, one of the evacuated passengers, told Anadolu Agency that he came with seven or eight people to Kyiv a few days ago to work in the construction industry.
He said they were trapped for three days at the construction site due to the start of the war and the sound of bombs.
"We stayed at the embassy for three days. Now we are on the train. Thank you to our country.”
Another passenger, Recep, also said he had come to the capital to work.
"I arrived in Kyiv on the 23rd of February. We never expected that there would be a war."
Saying they were awakened by the sounds of bombs and were shocked, Recep noted that they have now returned after staying at the embassy for three days and thanked the Turkish state.
A passenger who did not want to be named said he came to Kyiv as a tourist and was caught up in the war.
Pointing out that he was "caught up in the war" in the same way in 2014, he said he was experienced for this reason.
"We were here for two weeks. I was not very surprised due to my previous war experience," he said.
The passenger said he was using the evacuation train in case the situation got worse.
Since Russia's war on Ukraine began last Thursday, it has been met with outrage from the international community, with the European Union, UK and US implementing a range of economic sanctions against Russia.
Russia was further isolated after its planes were barred from flying in European and Canadian airspace, and a number of its banks were kicked out of the SWIFT international banking system.
So far, at least 136 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, including 13 children, and 400 others injured, including 26 children, according to UN figures.
Around 660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said Tuesday.
*Writing by Merve Berker
