Kenya issues instructions to citizens stuck in Ukraine

Thousands of people have been stranded in Ukraine since the Russian government invaded in the early hours of Thursday, February 24. Five Kenyan university students are among those stuck.

The five are students at the Ivan Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University in Ternopil.

Other Kenyan expatriates are also feared trapped as the invasion of Ukraine continues into its second day.

On Thursday, Ukrainian ambassador to Kenya Andrii Pravednyk asked Kenyans and the international community as a whole to stand against Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'aggression against Ukraine'.

Large explosions and emergency sirens rocked Kyiv on Thursday as Russia launched its attack on eastern Ukraine.

"The combat spirit of the Ukrainian military is high, our defenders are ready to give a decisive response to the aggressor state and will protect the Ukrainian soil with all their strength," said Pravednyk.

Kenya's stand on the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Kenya waded in on the tension between Russia and Ukraine during the United Nations Security Council’s urgent meeting on Monday February 21, 2022.

The speech was delivered by Kenya’s permanent representative to the UN ambassador Martin Kimani.

Ambassador Kimani expressed Kenya’s strong concern and opposition to the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.

“We further strongly condemn the trend in the last few decades of powerful states, including members of this Security Council, breaching International Law with little regard,” he said.

“Multilateralism lies on its deathbed tonight. It has been assaulted, as it has been by other powerful states in the recent past,” he said.

US reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

President Joe Biden announced that the US had sanctioned Russian banks that hold around $1 trillion (Sh113 trillion) in assets.

“We cut off Russia’s largest bank — and we are also fully blocking four more major banks. That means every asset they have in America will be frozen.

“As promised, we’re also adding names to the list of Russian elites and their family members that we are sanctioning. These are people who personally gain from the Kremlin’s policies — and they should share in the pain.

“On Tuesday, we stopped the Russian government from raising money from U.S. or European investors. Now, we will apply the same restriction to Russia's largest state-owned enterprises - companies with estimated assets of $1.4 trillion,” Biden stated.