Greek consul still in Ukraine, he continues the difficult path in the war zone

The odyssey of the Greek consul Manolis Androulakis in the war zone in Ukraine continues. Last night he was near Uman.

During the three days that have passed since the departure of the Greek consul from Mariupol, the diplomat is still in Ukraine. After spending the night in Zaporozhye, yesterday morning he set off towards the border.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Mr. Androulakis is now near Uman and will leave for Moldova this morning to continue his journey to Greece.

According to the publication newsbreak.gr, The operation to free the consul and the staff of the OSCE mission, along with their family members, began on Tuesday. It is coordinated with the OSCE. However, it is not entirely clear why the Greek government refused to allow the diplomat to leave through the territory of the Russian Federation, which is close to Mariupol.

At first, the Greek authorities requested guarantees from the Russian Federation for the safe release of the consul and received them. But on condition that the diplomat will be transferred to Russian territory. The Greek side rejected this option, deciding to move the consul through Ukrainian-controlled areas.

As our publication previously reported, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias reported to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament that the Greek consul left from the besieged Mariupol and is on the way to the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye:

“I hope he can safely return to our homeland. The scenes from Ukraine are tragic in the context of the war caused by the Russian invasion. Both expatriates and Greek diplomats are trapped. At the moment, work is underway to evacuate the Greek consul from Mariupol together with the OSCE staff. If the information is correct, now it is moving in the direction of Zaporozhye. I hope he can safely return to our homeland. Let me say that his presence in Mariupol, like the presence of Ambassador Kostelenis and Ambassador Dokhtsis, does honor to our country. Once again, I extend my warmest congratulations to them.”

The Greek authorities thought through various scenarios for the release of a diplomat who found himself in
epicenter of military events
in Ukraine. But any operation carries a high risk. One of the options that they tried to implement was to approach the house where the diplomat was in the shelter, representatives of the Red Cross in order to transfer the necessary things to the people who were trapped. Father of the Greek Consul in Mariupol George Androulakis
told
about the operation to release his son together with the OSCE mission. They were transported by three large buses and several accompanying private cars. In total, there were about 80 people in the column, mostly Ukrainian OSCE officials and members of their families. In a telephone conversation with his father, according to him, the voice of the consul sounded cheerful and happy, because he managed to escape from Mariupol after many days of living in extremely difficult conditions, sometimes without communication.

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