President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the allocation of the first tranche in the amount of EUR 500 million to help refugees from Ukraine, and announced the decision to grant them the right to reside in the EU for at least a year.
“The EU is providing a first tranche of EUR 500 million to help refugees, and we made sure this week that they get residency rights in the EU for at least a year. Refugees from Ukraine deserve our solidarity and support, and so do the countries that welcome them,” von der Leyen said on Twitter on Saturday.
As many as 432 citizens of Kazakhstan have been evacuated home from Ukraine on board three planes, and the organization of a fourth flight is underway, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
“Three Air Astana flights evacuated 432 people to Kazakhstan as of today. The sending of a fourth evacuation aircraft is being arranged now. The flight will be organized as soon as the necessary number of citizens gather in Katowice, Poland,” it said.
Since the start of the evacuation campaign from Ukraine, Kazakh offices abroad have helped 553 citizens to leave the country, the ministry said.
A number of Kazakhstanis who earlier left Ukraine have decided to stay in the European Union territory, the ministry said.
There were 30 Kazakhstanis in Katowice, and a bus with 30 passengers was about to cross the Ukrainian-Polish border on Saturday. Another nine people were waiting at an evacuation point near Kazakhstan’s honorary consulate in Lviv, ten people in Kyiv, and seven in Kharkiv.
Azerbaijan has evacuated over 9,000 of its citizens from Ukraine since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said on Saturday. “About 9,500 citizens of Azerbaijan were evacuated from Ukraine as of the morning of March 5. Most of them were evacuated via the ground border with Moldova,” Bayramov said.
Some of the evacuated Azerbaijanis were to return home by plane from Poland on Saturday and from Romania on Sunday, he said.
The third round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place on Monday, March 7, leader of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada David Arakhamia said on Facebook.
“The third round of negotiations will take place on Monday,” he said on Facebook.
The Ministry of Social Policy says that 638 children from vulnerable groups and accompanying persons from Odesa region were evacuated to Poland.
“Minister of Social Policy Maryna Lazebna said that the evacuation to Poland of the largest group to date, which includes 576 children from vulnerable groups and 62 accompanying people, has been successfully completed,” the press service of the Ministry of Social Policy said.
It is noted that the group includes: orphans, children deprived of parental care, children from institutional educational and social institutions, as well as from foster families and family-type orphanages.
“This time we worried the most, because such a large number of children, high risks of information leakage and, accordingly, the possible danger of disrupting the evacuation. But children from Odesa region were gathered in small groups, only then they were united and safely transported by a train specially formed for these needs. To avoid publicity and crowds, the border crossing took place at night. Today, all children are placed on the territory of Poland in pre-agreed places, provided with everything necessary,” the message says.
The list is constantly updated, available at the link.
Vitali Klitschko a few days ago turned to pharmacy chains with a demand to resume work, however, according to the people of Kiev, no more than 15% of pharmacies are working. People spend a lot of time in queues at pharmacies.
