Turkiye has evacuated over 13,700 citizens from Ukraine since start of war: Minister

By Dilara Hamit

ANKARA (AA) – Turkiye has evacuated 13,719 citizens from Ukraine since Russia launched a war on its neighbor, the Turkish foreign minister said Thursday.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter that 125 citizens had set out from Ukraine today.

Cavusoglu said citizens were coming to Turkiye from Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Kremenchuk.

He wished all the best for those en route.

Since Russia began its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, it has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 549 civilians have been killed and 957 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures. But the international body has maintained that conditions on the ground have made it "difficult to verify" the true number of civilian casualties.

More than 2.3 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, said the UN refugee agency.