The foreign ministry on Thursday urged Lithuanian citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately by land due to “large-scale Russian military aggression”.
“Ukraine's airspace is closed, and citizens are strongly advised against travelling to airports,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also reiterated its recommendation for Lithuanian citizens not to travel to Belarus and for those already in the neighbouring country to leave it.
Moreover, the Lithuanian Embassy Ukraine, which until now was partially operational in Kyiv, is being relocated to “a safer place”, according to Lithuanian president’s Foreign Policy Adviser Asta Skaisgirytė.
“On Wednesday, part of the embassy in Kyiv was still open, but the instruction is to move to a safer place if the situation deteriorates. First, [the embassy] will move to Western Ukraine. If the situation got worse, we would think about moving to Lithuania,” she told LRT Radio.
Valdemaras Sarapinas, Lithuania's ambassador to Ukraine, later confirmed to BNS that the embassy would be temporarily relocated to the western city of Lviv close to the Polish border.
Earlier in February, the embassy moved some of its stuff to Lviv, but continued to carry out its essential functions from the capital.
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