The Italian Embassy in Ukraine is being moved to Lviv, in the west of the country, the Italian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday (March 1st), after similar decisions by other Western countries.
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"
Due to the deterioration of the security situation in Kyiv and the impossibility of guaranteeing its full functioning, the Italian Embassy in Kyiv is in the process of being transferred to Lviv
," the ministry said in a statement.
Italy thus joins France, the United States, Canada and Israel who recently made the same decision.
Earlier on Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi renewed his appeal to Italians still present in Kiev to leave the area and exercise "
maximum caution
".
He said that the staff of the Italian embassy in Kyiv had settled in the residence of the ambassador with a group of compatriots, including children.
“
87 people have gathered at the residence, 72 of whom are expected to leave today
,” he said.
On February 12, Italy announced that it had recalled its “
non-essential
” diplomatic staff and invited its nationals present in Ukraine to return by commercial means.
