26 Kenyan Students Trapped in Ukraine's Sumy City Finally Rescued

26 Kenyans who were trapped in the Ukrainian city of Sumy amid the ongoing Russian invasion have been evacuated, the government has said.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the 26 students were rescued from the northeastern city through the humanitarian corridor to Poltava and are on their way to Lviv, a town on the Ukraine border with Poland.

The ministry noted that the students were under the escort of officials from the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Kenya in Ukraine led by Dr. Anatoliy Kovalenko, the Honorary Consul.

“The Republic of Kenya had also requested the Ukrainian Authorities to inform the state border services of the movement to ensure facilitation at the borders,” the ministry said in a statement.

At least 21 civilians, including two children, were killed after Russian planes bombed Sumy city on Monday.

Last week, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said 74 Kenyan students had successfully crossed into neighboring Poland while four went to Romania and Hungary. The ministry added that one student flew back to the country while four others declined to be evacuated, citing personal reasons.

The Kenyan government successfully negotiated unrestricted entry for Kenyans into European Union countries bordering Ukraine following Russia’s invasion on February 24th.

The ministry stated that all the 201 registered Kenyans who were in Ukraine, including 18 permanent residents, are safe.

Hundreds of thousands have fled Ukraine after Russia staged an invasion in an escalation of a conflict that commenced in 2014.