Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has directed designated agencies to coordinate in protecting and moving all Vietnamese citizens and legal entities away from Ukrainian areas being affected by the ongoing Russia - Ukraine fighting.

In a dispatch issued on Saturday to ministries and other competent agencies, PM Chinh said the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia has spread in a fast and complicated manner since Thursday.

Such fighting has directly threatened the lives and assets of people in Ukraine, where around 7,000 Vietnamese are living, mainly in Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kyiv.

The government’s top concern is to safeguard Vietnamese citizens as well as their assets and interests in Ukraine and related areas, according to the dispatch.

The PM asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to draw up plans to ensure security and safety for Vietnamese citizens and members of Vietnam’s representative missions in Ukraine and evacuate them when necessary.

They must be given support in terms of accommodation, food, and other necessities, the PM underscored.

The ministry is required to instruct Vietnam’s diplomatic missions in Ukraine and neighboring countries to relocate Vietnamese citizens from dangerous areas to safe shelters when needed.

The ministry should also prepare plans to send those people back to Vietnam at their will.

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Training, and other related bodies must provide the foreign ministry with lists of Vietnamese living, working, and studying in Ukraine to facilitate its plan for support or possible evacuation.   

The PM assigned the Ministry of Transport to instruct Vietnamese airlines to be ready to bring Vietnamese citizens and their families back to Vietnam.

He also asked that the Ministry of Public Security create favorable conditions for Vietnamese citizens, people of Vietnamese origin, and their family members to carry out immigration procedures upon their repatriation.

In coordination with other relevant agencies, the Ministry of Finance is charged with allocating funding for the implementation of citizen protection measures.

The government chief ordered the Ministry of Planning and Investment to take appropriate steps to protect investment and business activities of Vietnamese enterprises, as well as their legitimate interests, in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Information and Communications and media agencies must closely monitor the Ukraine situation and release timely, accurate, and objective information to form a basis for necessary responses, the PM stated.

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