About 18 Zimbabwean students are stuck in Sumy, a city in north-eastern Ukraine, and have told The NewsHawks they are fast running out of food and water. The terrified students are now pleading with the United Nations to rescue them.
Zimbabwe this week evacuated 118 students who were studying after some 200 students made a distress call following Russia’s attack on Ukraine on 24 February.
The government indicated they would be assisted once they get to any third country including Moldova and Poland, therefore, it is difficult to assist those in isolated Sumy.
Bridges leading to the city have been bombed. The local train station was also reportedly destroyed, making escape impossible for desperate foreigners. According to the Guardian newspaper, about 1 500 people are still stuck in Sumy.
It is not clear who bombed the bridges, but, Ukrainian forces have been destroying bridges to slow down Russian forces.
A large Russian military convoy stretching over 30 km was delayed on Thursday.
Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognised Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities.
Ukraine’s allies, including the United States of America, the European Union and the United Kingdom, criticised “Russia’s unprovoked aggression” and imposed sanctions calling on Russia to stop the war.
NATO ruled out sending troops into Ukraine and also rejected Ukraine’s call to impose a no-fly zone on Ukraine saying that would trigger a full-fledged war in Europe.
Meanwhile, the economy has started to respond to the war with gas prices in Europe going up in recent days.