On the 24th of February 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin had ordered for a military operation to commence in the neighbouring country of Ukraine. Since then, the conflict has escalated into war, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba describing it as a ‘full-scaled invasion’ of the country. Amid the chaos, a number of global diplomatic outposts have been working around the clock in order to help secure safe passage for their citizens from war-torn Ukraine.
‘Hero’ First Secretary from the Embassy of Malaysia in Ukraine mounts independent evacuation efforts from Ukraine
Among them include Malaysia’s very own First Secretary from the Embassy of Malaysia in Ukraine, Fadhilah Daud, who had reportedly mounted her own rescue efforts to evacuate over 12 people from the capital city of Kyiv after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had allegedly ‘bungled’ their initial rescue efforts, according to SCMP. Confirmed by government sources with direct knowledge on the matter, it was said that the rescue efforts, which involved a bus that had been supposed to commute the remaining evacuees from Kyiv, had been impeded by the influx of traffic that had crowded Ukraine’s western border leading into Poland.
Deciding against waiting around lest the situation escalates any further, they decided to make a run for Poland with Fadhilah, who is on her first overseas posting, chartering a convoy of four cars to help transport the group towards Lviv. It has been later confirmed by Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah yesterday (27th February 2022) that the group had managed to safely complete the 783km journey, which took around 10 hours, and arrived at Korczowa-Krakovets.
Alhamdulillah, konvoi yang memindahkan 9 rakyat Malaysia & 2 tanggungan mereka serta seorang warga Singapura dari Kyiv yang diketuai oleh Kuasa Usaha Sementara @MYEmbKyiv, Cik Fadhilah Daud telah selamat tiba di Korczowa-Krakovets, sempadan Ukraine dengan Poland. pic.twitter.com/gWPCrU5lwl
— Saifuddin Abdullah 🇲🇾 (@saifuddinabd) February 26, 2022
Multiple sources cite ‘bungled’ evacuation efforts due to senior government officials dismissal of intelligence
A number of sources that were independent of one another had lay blame of the evacuation failure on the dismissive attitudes adopted by senior government officials, most notably Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri.
One source claims that senior Malaysian government officials had described intelligence obtained from as early as January of this year of a potential invasion into Ukraine by Russian forces as being a part of an inaccurate ‘Western narrative’, contributing to the current state of affairs with the evacuation becoming a ‘cluster f**k’.
“The situation is partly the consequence of having a minister who is so desperate not to fall for the Western narrative, he starts believing the nonsense peddled by the other side,” another source adds.
Malaysian security expert Munira Mustaffa had also expressed her dismay given how local authorities had failed to act on credible intelligence from the West, calling it ‘unfortunate’. She has also called for an explanation over the dismissal of credible intelligence, for the sake of accountability.
On the other hand, Fadilah has been hailed as a ‘hero’ for having the ‘gumption’ to proceed with an evacuation plan for the group, which comprises of 9 Malaysians, 2 Ukrainian dependents, and a single Singaporean national. They have since been received by embassy officials at the Polish border and are now being transported to the capital of Warsaw.
Malaysia has denied all claims of ‘bungling’ Ukrainian evacuation efforts
In response to the claims of having ‘bungled’ their evacuation efforts, the Foreign Ministry has since released a statement to deny the allegations, saying that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri had activated a ‘detailed evacuation plan’ on Thursday (24th February 2022) after it was brought up for discussion during a cabinet meeting on 16th February 2022.
The Prime Minister has also been criticsed in the media for his ambiguity towards the conflict, notably avoiding any mentions of Russia in his statements released over the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
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