Efforts being made from Cyprus to help Ukrainians stranded in region

Ukraine’s honorary consul in Paphos Yiannakis Aristodemou is in contact with the embassy in Nicosia to help Ukrainian tourists stranded in countries in the region following Russia’s invasion, he told the Cyprus News Agency on Friday.

He said there was a number of Ukrainians who were on holiday in countries such as Egypt when war broke out and are now stranded there.

They have contacted the embassy, and efforts are underway to bring them to Cyprus as a first step, he added.

He expressed the hope that the war would end the soonest possible and peace would prevail and called for humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people.

Meanwhile, the Cyprus News Agency spoke to Ukrainians living in Cyprus who voiced their concern over the situation back home.

Among them Tatiana Aristodemou who has lived in Cyprus for the past 30 years. She said her mother lives near the Slovakian border, while other friends and relatives are scattered in areas affected by Russia’s invasion.

Aristodemou was born in Donetsk where, she said, trouble has started eight years ago. Since then, more than one million have had to leave their town – among them her parents – to settle in safer parts of the Ukraine.