Fear grips Akalites in Ukraine as Russia declares war.
3 min read
Last week, Akalites living in Ukraine were gripped by fear as Russian forces unleashed an attack on Ukraine following an order by Vladimir Putin, the Russian President. Putin who has been adamant to the warnings from world leaders declared a “special military operation” last week with the aim of demilitarizing Ukraine.
According to Umuaka Times correspondent in Ukraine, immediately after the declaration by Putin, bombardments rocked several cities in the country including the state capital Kiev where many Akalites and other Nigerians live. Already several lives have been lost and world leaders have warned Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine. Putin seems uninterested to listen to any warning.
A report monitored by Umuaka Times which emanated from the ministry of internal affairs of Ukraine, the attacks have been reported as massive as cruise and ballistic missiles have so far been used in major cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Dnipro. Last week, there were reports of attacks at residential buildings by Russian forces where civilians and children were severely wounded.
An Akalite Mr Charles Ibe (not real name)who lives in one of the cities told Umuaka Times that they have been hearing the sounds of explosions from artillery rockets since the war started. Several countries across the world since last week embarked on massive evacuation of their citizens from the troubled Ukraine but Nigerian government seems unbothered. Last week, the Nigerian Embassy in the country issued a very sad security advisory where it advised Nigerians living in the country to remain calm and protect themselves. There were reports last week that India and the Balkan countries comprising Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia were busy evacuating their citizens from the troubled Ukraine.
The Akalite who spoke with Umuaka Times confirmed that they were safe as at now but as the war escalated last week to many cities in the country, apprehensions grew higher among Akalites and Nigerians especially students living in the country. There is a total number of 12,000 Nigerian students in Ukraine and others doing different businesses which will bring the number to more than a million. Our source in Ukraine confirmed that “every city in Ukraine is on fire,” and the need for assistance is very urgent.
Umuaka Times gathered that the Umuaka Union in Ukraine also admits people from Amurie, Ekwe, Amandugba and Umundugba and as it stands now, each of them is under hiding due to the escalating war. Most of the members if not all from the Umuaka Union have left their homes since the Russian troops started targeting civilian populations and residential buildings. Deaths have reported from the civilian populations across the country.
What Umuaka Times can authoritatively confirm is that as at now, nobody from Umuaka and her sister towns has sustained any injury since the war began but there is a big fear among them especially now that the Ukrainian forces have gone into land battle with the Russian soldiers on the streets of many big cities in the country.
