'No foreigners allowed on trains’ as SA students try to flee Ukraine

The students informed the Expat South Africa organisation which has been trying to help the stranded students studying in Ukraine.

"Unfortunately, the students managed to rush to the next available train however they were told that no foreigners are allowed to get on. We’re hoping that an alternative can be found. Now they are at a train station with different foreign nationals,” the organisation said in a statement.

Expat South Africa founder Lebone Kganyago says the students have been told to remain calm amid the invasion by Russia.

"We did try to get as much clarity as possible on what could have caused delay in evacuation. However, based on the information from the South African Embassy in Ukraine, they told students to stay calm and they will let them know what the next move is. Obviously students are panicking, and safety assurance is inevitable hence the students decided to move to a safer place."

Meanwhile, South Africa's ambassador to Ukraine Andre Groenewald says more than 50 South Africans there, mostly students, have reached out to them for help in getting to safety.

Groenewald says they were working with his counterparts in Poland and Romania to assist citizens who wanted to leave.

"But it's not just South African students, also students that are especially from Africa, that do not have representation in Ukraine. I dealt with about 84 of them so altogether, about 110 students."

Russia began an air, sea, and land offensive in Ukraine on Thursday.

Department of International Relations  and Cooperation spokesperson Clayson Monyela tweeted:

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