TWENTY-ONE Filipino seafarers evacuated from war-torn Ukraine will arrive in Manila tomorrow, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The seafarers are crew members of MV S-Breeze, a bulk carrier that has been on drydock for repairs at the Ilyichevsk shipyard in Port of Odessa, Ukraine since January 27 this year.
The DFA said 21 Filipino seafarers crossed the border to Moldova on February 27 and March 1, and then to Romania where they arrived on March 4.
Another 13 seafarers who are crew members of Star Helena reached Moldova on March 3 and are awaiting repatriation to Manila.
As of March 4, the DFA said, 109 Filipinos have been safely evacuated from Ukraine, with 19 already in Manila.
The rest — 31 in Romania, 19 in Poland, 16 in Moldova, 15 in Hungary, and nine in Austria — are waiting for repatriation flights to Manila.
At the outset of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the DFA said there are about 380 Filipinos in Ukraine and 8,000 in Russia.
Vice President Leni Robredo hailed government officials and other public servants who have been ensuring the safety of the Filipinos in Ukraine as she condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I condemn the violence that has been inflicted upon the people of Ukraine, the violation of its sovereignty, and the threat that now hangs above all the innocent lives in the region,” Robredo said days after the Philippines joined 140 other nations in supporting a resolution of the UN General Assembly rebuking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and asking Moscow to immediately withdraw all its forces from Ukraine.
Robredo said, “It is a moral imperative to stand against bullying and unprovoked aggression, especially given the reports of civilians and residential areas deliberately targeted in the course of this invasion. I stand in admiration of the Ukrainian people’s courage and resilience, and am proud of their efforts to defend freedom and a rights-based order – ideals that the Filipino people share. I stand firmly behind the Philippine government’s stance supporting the international community in condemning the invasion of Ukraine.”
