SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Romania opened its doors to Iraqi citizens trying to escape the war-torn country of Ukraine as Russia has launched a military offensive against Kyiv and surrounding cities, Iraqi foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Iraqi residents of Ukraine can refuge in Romania and will be allowed to stay in the country for three months, said spokesman of Iraqi foreign ministry Mohammed Sahaf.
Iraqi Consulate in Bucharest has so far received 13 Iraqis since the start of the Russian invasion last week, Sahaf said.
News of the death of a Kurdish student studying in Ukraine circulated on social media on Thursday. Iraqi media reported that the student, from Kirkuk, was killed in Russian airstrikes on Ukraine.
Russia launched its invasion by land, air and sea on Thursday following a declaration of war by Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
Last week, the Iraqi foreign ministry called on its citizens numbered 5,500 Iraqis to leave Ukraine.
It also decided on Friday to grant visas to Ukrainian wives and children of Iraqis, instructing the country’s embassies in Russia, Poland, Hungary and Romania to open “hotlines” to receive calls from Iraqis who want to leave Ukraine.
