The situation in Ukraine is particularly unstable, with clashes occurring in several areas of the country. Over the past 48 hours security conditions, which were already precarious, have rapidly worsened, especially in Kyiv.
As previously disclosed, on 1 March the Foreign Affairs Crisis Unit instructed all Italian nationals to leave the city by any available means of transport. Previously, on 12 February, the Ministry had already officially urged Italian nationals to leave the country.
In view of the worsening security conditions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has decided to move the Embassy away from Kyiv: it was the last Embassy of a great EU country to be relocated to another city, while staying in Ukraine.
Ambassador Zazo, through a complex operation run by the Foreign Affairs Ministry Crisis Unit – which is collaborating closely with the intelligence and has its operational support – has arrived in Lviv today, where the seat of Italy’s diplomatic mission in Ukraine has been relocated.
In Lviv, the Embassy will continue to work and provide assistance to our fellow nationals who are still in Ukraine. Such work will be done in close contact with the local authorities, with International Organisations and with other rescue and relief operations on the spot while assessing the feasibility of possible reunifications between fellow nationals in nearby areas, depending on their willingness to offer passages to one another.
Given the priority of our diplomatic mission, namely, to protect our fellow nationals in Ukraine, any request other than providing safety to Italian citizens still in the country – including the many requests by the press – must be sent to the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Farnesina (06/36912070; stampa.farnesina@esteri.it).
Italian journalists, reporters and photographers/cameramen still in Ukraine – who recently have been contacted several times by the Crisis Unit – have been repeatedly informed of the continuing deterioration of the situation and urged (as reported in “Viaggiare Sicuri”) to leave the country immediately with any available means of transport, taking in due consideration travel and communication difficulties, as well as security conditions, which have already seriously worsened.
