Anadolu Agency team facilitates evacuation of Turkish student stranded in Kyiv

Anadolu Agency team on duty in the war-torn Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, helped, Friday, evacuate a Turkish student who was stranded in the capital amid the ongoing Russian attacks, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Ibrahim Oruk, who has been studying in Ukraine for the past five years, said he wanted to leave Kyiv right after the start of Russia’s attacks, but he could not succeed to do so.

On the plea of the Oruk family – who lost contact with the student – to Anadolu Agency headquarters in Ankara, Anadolu Agency correspondents in the field managed to contact the student to help him safely flee the country through the Turkish embassy channels by getting on the evacuation train.

The correspondents picked the student up from his dorm in Kyiv under the sounds of sirens warning about an air raid attack by the Russian forces, and brought him to Turkiye’s Embassy in Kyiv.

On the way to the embassy, Oruk said: “I was at home the first day when the war started. Then sirens started, followed by sounds of bombs. Later, I heard that there was a shelter under the old dormitory. I went there. Later, I tried to get out, but there was no opportunity.”

Noting that he saw the embassy’s messages about evacuation trains and buses, Oruk said the taxi and buses were not working.

“Working taxis started to ask for $300 instead of a standard fee of 100-200 Turkish liras ($7-$14). That’s why we couldn’t go. Right now, you (Anadolu Agency team) picked me up. I’m grateful for that, thank you,” he said.

Failed to leave Kyiv before

Noting that he tried before to go with his two friends to the train station by taxi, Oruk said their car was stopped by the local Ukrainian forces on a street checkpoint.

“They took us down, after that, they hit the driver on the head, although he (the driver) was Ukrainian. There was already blood coming from the driver’s head. Then, when I tried to take the passport out of my pocket, they handcuffed me backward. Later, after showing our documents, they released us and we had to return to the dormitory,” he said.

Speaking on the severity of the Russian attacks on Kyiv, Oruk said two explosions were heard two days ago nearby his dormitory.

“Blast impact was felt in our dorm as well. First, a light appeared, but we didn’t understand (what it was), we thought it was coming from far away. But after five to 10 seconds, the doors started to shake and windows started to break. We couldn’t feel it much because we were in the shelter. Then, we heard the bomb sounds,” he added.

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Oruk and other Turkish citizens arriving at the embassy building are expected to leave Kyiv by train, in a wagon arranged for the evacuation of Turkish citizens.

Turkiye’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, announced Thursday that the number of Turkish citizens evacuated from Ukraine stood at 9,653.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has led to international outrage, with the EU, US, UK and others implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

But Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said the “special military operation” will last until all goals set were achieved. He said he launched the war on 24 February to “demilitarise” and “denazify” Ukraine.

According to UN figures, at least 249 civilians have been killed and 553 injured in Ukraine since the start of the war.

More than 1.2 million people have also fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries, the UN refugee agency said.