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More ethnic Poles hoping to flee war-torn Ukraine

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 29.01.2015 09:07
Just two weeks after 178 ethnic Poles were successfully evacuated from eastern Ukraine, more have stepped forward pleading for refuge in Poland.
People clear a shattered window in a residential building that was damaged in a shelling on 24 January in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Ukraine. The pro-Western government in Ukraine announced 25 January that it plans to bring charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against the pro-Russian separatists it blames People clear a shattered window in a residential building that was damaged in a shelling on 24 January in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Ukraine. The pro-Western government in Ukraine announced 25 January that it plans to bring charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against the pro-Russian separatists it blames

According to Jerzy Wójcicki of Słowo Polskie, a portal for Ukraine's Polish comunity, most of the would-be evacuees are based in the city of Mariupol, which came under heavy attack from pro-Russian separatists on 24 January.

Wójcicki says that many of the hopefuls were unaware of the Polish foreign ministry's operation earlier this month.

He claims that in Mariupol alone, 50 Ukrainian citizens with Polish roots would take advantage of a further evacuation.

During the attacks on 24 January, 29 people died and 100 were injured amid heavy shelling. Wójcicki says that of the apartments destroyed in the city, some belonged to Polish families.

Wójcicki told Polish Radio that the head of the Polish community received a statement from the foreign ministry noting that the earlier evacuation was a one-off operation.

Meanwhile, foreign ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski has told Polish Radio that it is investigating the matter, stressing however that following the 24 January attack, the situation is increasingly difficult in Mariupol. (nh)

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