Pretoria – Scores of Zambian students who were stranded in war-ravaged Ukraine have arrived back home.
Millions of people have been fleeing Ukraine after Russia announced a “military operation” which has seen the bombardment of neighbouring Ukraine.
Scenes of wild jubilation were witnessed in Zambia’s capital Lusaka after the group of 79 students was reunited with their families. According to reports, the government facilitated their evacuation through Warsaw, Poland.
The relieved students were welcomed on the airport tarmac by Zambia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Stanley Kakubo as well as Information and Media Minister Chushi Kasanda.
"In a war, things are complicated, fragile, situations can change at any moment. But we kept going and thank you to all the Zambians that have been able to pray with the parents, with communities, with government. Prayer has seen us through and the first group of Zambians is here,” Kakubo said.
“Until we get all of them here, this situation is not yet behind us.”
One of the evacuated students, Stanley Zulu, said he left Ukraine through the Hungarian border after his initial attempt to flee via the border with Poland failed.
“I left Ukraine through the Hungarian border. Initially I tried to leave through the Polish border but it was too hectic … so I decided to use the Hungarian border which was much bigger,” he said.
According to media reports, some Zambian students have fled to Poland from Ukraine and have elected to settle there.
Meanwhile, in South Africa about 10 students who were studying in Ukraine were on Thursday morning expected to arrive in Johannesburg from the embattled Eastern Europe country.
An advisory issued to journalists on Wednesday night by the department of international relations and cooperation said the plane ferrying the students would arrive at OR Tambo International Airport at around 11am on Thursday.
IOL