4,500 Vietnamese evacuate Ukraine

Of the 2,800 who have reached Poland, 300 were repatriated on March 9.

Around 950 arrived in Romania, and 287 returned to Vietnam on March 7, 660 in Hungary, more than 100 in Slovakia, and 20 people in Russia, a Friday press release of Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Around 610 people in Romania and 500 in Poland have registered for repatriation.

Vietnamese missions in countries neighboring Ukraine are coordinating with local authorities and Vietnamese associations to receive evacuees and arrange transportation, accommodation and necessities for them.

The government is set to dispatch two more rescue flights.

The first one, expected to bring 283 people from Poland, will leave Hanoi Saturday afternoon and return the next morning.

The second will bring back 276 people on the same schedule.

On March 10 the government gave permission for 10 more rescue flights sponsored by a private company.

There were around 7,000 Vietnamese in Ukraine, mainly in Kharkiv, Odessa and Kiev, before Russia launched its attack two weeks ago.