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DFA urges 116 Filipinos still in Ukraine: 'Please leave'

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<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1951307" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>MANILA - There are still 116 Filipinos in conflict-stricken Ukraine, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday as it appealed to them to leave.</p><p>As of Thursday, 93 Filipinos have left Ukraine of the 209 that the agency was able to account for, according to DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola. Some 45 Filipinos remain in Kiev, she said.</p><p>Some of those who choose to stay work for humanitarian or security organizations in Europe, she added. The Philippines is maintaining its presence in the city of Lviv while it has an honorary consulate in Kiev, Arriola said.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re giving them care packages and financial assistance but we’re really asking them to please leave because the problem is the fighting is getting to be more intense,&quot; she told ANC&#x27;s Headstart.</p><p>&quot;And what we&#x27;re afraid of is if the train stops operating, there&#x27;s no other way to get to Lviv. But we understand some can’t leave because they have their families there.&quot;</p><p>There are also some 209 seafarers stranded in the Black Sea or in ports of Ukraine due to the fighting, Arriola said.</p><p>The DFA will meet later Friday with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the seafarers&#x27; manning agencies if the workers could be evacuated, she added.</p><p>&quot;If there’s really heavy fire, the only thing they can do is hunker down and take cover because the one who might extract them might get killed or if they leave the ships they might also get hurt,&quot; she said.</p><p>The International Criminal Court has already opened a war crimes investigation against Russia. Ukraine says more than 350 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed in the conflict.</p>

There are still 116 Filipinos in conflict-stricken Ukraine, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday amid Russia's invasion of the country.