《TAIPEI TIMES》 Government evacuates 22 Taiwanese from Ukraine

OTHERS REMAIN: The journey took longer than expected, as thousands of people have hit the road to escape from the invasion, the foreign ministry said

/ Staff writer, with CNA

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Twenty-two Taiwanese have been evacuated from Ukraine to Poland and Slovakia after fleeing the eastern European country following Russia’s invasion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Eighteen Taiwanese and their spouses arrived in Poland on a bus arranged by the government 46 hours after fleeing the Ukranian capital, Kyiv, the ministry said.

The bus cleared Ukraine-Poland border inspections at about 8pm on Saturday, Taiwan time, before heading to Lublin, where they were greeted by Representative to Poland Bob Chen （陳龍錦） and other diplomats, the ministry said in a news release.

They were given Taiwanese food and bubble tea after their ordeal, it added.

After a brief rest, the bus took them to Warsaw, where the evacuees are to decide whether to return to Taiwan or head elsewhere, the ministry said.

In a separate evacuation mission, the ministry said four Taiwanese arrived in Slovakia from Ukraine yesterday morning.

The ministry thanked the Polish and Slovakian governments for facilitating the evacuation missions.

Fourteen Taiwanese remain in Ukraine, including seven in Kyiv, the ministry said.

It said that it would keep in contact with them and offer help if they choose to leave the country.

The bus that arrived in Poland on Saturday left just hours after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, following weeks of escalating tensions.

It first traveled to Lviv, about 500km from Kyiv near the Polish border.

The journey took much longer than expected, due to the traffic jams caused by thousands of people fleeing the capital and eastern Ukraine, where several cities are under attack, the ministry said.

More than 120,000 people have fled Ukraine since the assault began, a UN official told CNN, and there are long lines at some border crossings.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES