Japan asks its citizens to leave Ukraine “immediately”

Faced with the increase in tension in Ukraine, the Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno announced that diplomatic personnel will be evacuated to leave Ukraine "immediately".

"Japanese citizens are urged to leave the country using commercial aircraft as some flights have been suspended and there is a possibility that they will be completely suspended in the coming days," Matsuno said.

At the same time, he explained that this Monday, February 14, the staff of the Japanese embassy in Kiev will be evacuated. "We will prioritize the security of our nationals and continue to communicate individually by mail and by phone."

Last weekend, Japan raised the maximum security alert to its 150 citizens in kyiv, and assured that they closely monitor all developments of the possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"Last Friday we raised the security alert level to four, not only in the capital, but also throughout the country," the spokesman said.

Singapore joins the call

Similarly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore called on its citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible on commercial flights "as long as possible".

"Tensions have continued to rise in Ukraine and the region, and given the situation, Singaporeans in Ukraine are advised to leave the country as soon as possible on commercial flights while it is possible to do so," the Singapore government said in a statement. statement made last Sunday.

It is important to emphasize that Singapore does not have diplomatic personnel in Ukraine, so they will not be able to provide direct support to their nationals to leave the country in conflict.

In this way, both Japan and Singapore join the list of countries that have called or withdrawn their citizens from Ukraine, among which the United States, Israel, Australia, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom stand out.