Bulgaria evacuates citizens and embassy staff from Kyiv

The Russian army has deployed more troops near Kharkiv. As a result, the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine’s second-largest city has worsened. The town of Kherson located on Dnipro River has been blocked as well. A huge military convoy stretching some 40 kilometers is advancing on the capital city of Kyiv. Addressing the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there are no results in talks with Russia yet.

The Presidents of eight central European and eastern European countries, including Bulgaria’s president Rumen Radev, have called on European Union member states to immediately grant Ukraine a EU candidate country status. At an extraordinary sitting on March 1, Bulgaria’s Parliament is expected to vote the resignation of Defense Minister Stefan Yanev demanded by Premier Kiril Petkov. A protest in support of Stefan Yanev is expected to take place in front of the National Assembly building. On February 28, citizens protested in front of the Council of Minister building calling on Bulgaria’s authorities to declare a position of neutrality.

The Council of Electronic Media is expected to decide today whether to temporarily restrict broadcasting of Russian televisions in Bulgaria. Four buses with Bulgarians evacuated from Kyiv and all vehicles of the Bulgarian Embassy in Ukraine’s capital have arrived on the territory of Moldova and are travelling to Bulgaria. 200 nationals of Bulgaria, Ukraine, North Macedonia and the USA are on their way to Bulgaria. Bulgaria has already received more than 7,000 Ukrainian refugees. /BGNES