Russia to evacuate diplomats from Ukraine

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The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russian Embassy personnel will be evacuated from Ukraine as soon as possible.

According to the statement by the Ministry, "Under the current circumstances, our first priority is to take care of Russian diplomats and employees of the embassy and consulates general. To protect their lives and safety, the Russian leadership decided to evacuate the personnel of Russian foreign missions in Ukraine, which will be implemented in the very near future."

The statement detailed that some Russian diplomats in Ukraine were subjected to physical threats and some had their cars burned, without any reaction from Kiev's side.

The Russian Foreign Ministry added that "despite their obligations under the Vienna conventions on diplomatic and consular relations, the Ukrainian authorities have not anyhow addressed these events."

Tensions are soaring between Russia and Ukraine over the Donbass region and Moscow's latest statements recognizing the independence of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), after Ukraine's acts of aggression against the republics.

The Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) had accused Kiev of repeatedly shelling the Donbass region using weapons banned by the Minsk agreements.

The republics of Donetsk and Lugansk ratified an agreement on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance with Russia, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Tuesday.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said Tuesday that the Chargé d'Affairs of Ukraine in Moscow will return to the country, considering that severing relations with Russia is in the interest of Ukraine.

He also asked the West to send additional weapons in order to "confront" Russia. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister asked Britain to provide his country with "defensive" weapons, noting that Ukraine would resort to all diplomatic methods to "protect" the country.