MANILA, March 8 ------ The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday raised the crisis alert level in Ukraine to Alert Level 4 as Russia's invasion intensifies. Under Alert level 4, the DFA will enforce the mandatory evacuation of Filipinos in Ukraine, at government expense. Filipinos in Ukraine will be assisted by the Philippine Embassy in Poland, it added. Several Filipinos have already returned to Manila, while others have fled to neighboring countries. The DFA earlier said there were still around 116 Filipinos in conflict-stricken Ukraine.
As of Thursday last week, 93 Filipinos have left Ukraine of the 209 that the DFA was able to account for, according to DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola. Some 45 Filipinos remain in Kiev, she said. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last Feb. 24, targeting cities with weapons strikes. President Vladimir Putin confirmed the "military operation" supposedly to defend separatists in the east of Ukraine.
The Philippines, in its statement at the UNGA, said it "condemn(s) the use of separatism and secession as a weapon of diplomacy for inviting and inflicting terrible cruelties and indiscriminate killings far in excess of that of any other kind of conflict." "The principle of sovereignty and the sovereign equality of States is enshrined in the UN Charter. All States enjoy the right to full sovereignty in all their areas of jurisdiction," it added.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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