Panicked expats rush to leave Ukraine, but locals are staying put
British family fearful of an imminent invasion are stuck in Kyiv despite trying to follow UK advice to flee
A BRITISH couple were last night trapped in Ukraine waiting for emergency travel documents for their baby son in order to flee the country on the eve of a possible war.
As the Foreign Office urged Britons to leave “immediately”, Ben Garratt, 40, and his wife, Alice, from London, said they were waiting anxiously as Britons and other expats left around them.
“We’re being told by the UK Government to leave the country... and we still don’t have the document we need,” said Mr Garratt, who moved in December with his wife to Kyiv, where they had a baby under Ukraine’s more liberal surrogacy laws.
Thousands of foreigners are rushing to leave Ukraine amid reports that Russian forces could begin an invasion on Wednesday.
But Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, sought to play down the risk of a catastrophic invasion, despite the series of dire warnings from Western governments.
“The best friend of our enemies is panic in our country. All this information is only provoking panic and not helping us,” he said.
Mr Zelensky also cast doubts on US reports of an imminent invasion, requesting “if anyone has any additional information about a 100 per cent chance of an invasion, give it to us”.
It came as several thousand people marched through Kyiv city centre carrying the flags of Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition in a “unity march” yesterday afternoon.
Although many marchers carried banners warning Vladimir Putin not to go to war, the atmosphere was calm and there was little talk among those attending of imminent attack.
Nadya Vasina, a prominent Ukrainian gymnast who attended the protest with the flag of a Ukrainian army airborne unit, said she had come to “stand up for her country” and expected Russia to launch “some kind of provocation” in the coming weeks.
But she said she had made no plans to leave Kyiv, and dismissed predictions of a large-scale invasion as hyperbole.
“Ah yes, Wednesday. At 12.00. I have to fit in a coffee before that,” she said in mock alarm when asked if she was worried by reports of an imminent attack on the capital.
“I think we are dealing with a psychopath, so we can’t expect something understandable from him,” she said, referring to Mr Putin. “But at the same time even he should understand that if he chooses full-scale war it would be a huge catastrophe for the world, not just for Russia and Ukraine.”
KLM, the Dutch airline, last night announced it was ending all flights to Ukraine because of the deteriorating security situation.
Some Britons have vowed to remain in the country, with some saying they would do so in a gesture of solidarity with Ukrainians.
In response to a post on the British Embassy’s Facebook page urging Britons to leave, expat David Mann wrote: “Well, call me foolish if you like but I will stay here in solidarity with my Ukrainian friends.”
Dylan Carter, a Kyiv-based British journalist from Sheffield, said that if he remains in the country he plans to take
‘Most foreigners I know are now leaving, against a backdrop of calm locals. I am still unsure whether I will leave or not’
cover in an underground car park near his home should air strikes begin.
“We’re being told to leave, but it already seems too late,” he said. “It is [bizarre] to see the disconnect between local media and international panic.”
“Most foreigners I know are now leaving, against a backdrop of perfectly calm locals. I am still unsure whether I will leave or not,” he added.
Haider Ali, a British student at the Dnipro Medical Institute, said the invasion threat had caused “quite a panic” among his classmates and that many have booked tickets home.
“I’d been in two minds about coming back because of the advice coming out [from] the British Embassy, about the amber alert, red alert,” the 21-year-old said after arriving at Gatwick airport.
“A lot of people, a lot of students were waiting for the red alert and it happened yesterday. Once that happened, everybody booked their tickets and left as soon as possible.”
He added: “A lot of students were [in a] sort of panic battle stations: ‘What do I do, is it to going to affect my studies? What are my family going to think?’
“Because, obviously, the general consensus of the people in Ukraine were saying that it’s the Western media blowing it out of proportion.”