Greece’s General Consulate in Mariupol was partly evacuated on Wednesday morning and a humanitarian convoy with Greek nationals and media correspondents as well as several ethnic Greeks residents of the area left for Moldavia. Mariupol in the East is been heavily under fire, and is surrounded by Russian troops, from the north and the west.
The convoy with 100 people on 25 vehicles left at 11 o’ clock in the morning and will have to drive over 1,000 km before it can cross into Moldavia and it will need at least ten hours to reach safety..
The convoy drives through the Zaporzhzhya region in the south.
The Foreign Ministry in Athens has reportedly supplied them with all necessary documents to be able to pass through check-points and has informed accordingly also the Ukrainian and the Russian authorities.
Diplomatic representatives told Skai TV that Russia has opened a corridor until Thursday morning for civilians to abandon the eastern Ukraine.
Ambassador Fragiskos Kostellenos is leading the convoy, while Consul General Manolis Andoulakis will remain in Mariupol, the heart of the ethnic Greek community dating back to the 18th century.
State broadcaster ERT reported that ambassador Kostellenos will return to Mariupol once the convoy crossed the borders as thousands are waiting to evacuate the city.
Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis told
ERT that the task is difficult also regarding the fuel supply.
He stressed that the number of people who want to leave the region is constantly increasing. Among them are ethnic Greeks and Ukrainians but also third-countries nationals who would like to join the convoy.
“Main precondition is that they have their own cars. Unfortunately, many ethnic Greeks do not have their own means to leave,” Varvitsiotis pointed out.
+++ According to latest information by the Foreign Ministry at 3 p.m. Wednesday, there are 21 cars and 82 people and “it is difficult for the convoy to always stay together.”.
At least 10 ethnic Greeks were killed near Mariupol by Russian air strikes since last week.
