13:13 25.05.2015

Ukrainian diplomats attacked, robbed in Libya - Foreign Ministry

2 min read
Ukrainian diplomats attacked, robbed in Libya - Foreign Ministry

Ukrainian diplomats have been attacked by unidentified people in Libya, head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service Olena Vaschenko has said.

"An armed assault was made on employees of the Embassy of Ukraine in Libya near Tripoli on May 22. The ambassador, the consul and another member of the diplomatic mission were attacked," Vaschenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Sunday.

According to her, the attackers took the diplomats' car, money, documents and personal belongings. "At present, our colleagues are safe in Tripoli and are having their documents restored. They managed to get the car back, Tripoli officials are restoring the documents so that our diplomats could return to Tunisia," Vaschenko said.

She said the diplomats were returning from Tripoli to Tunisia where the Ukrainian embassy's staff was evacuated to due to ongoing hostilities. The diplomats arrived in Libya on May 18 to provide consular assistance to detained Ukrainians: a group of four people, who have been held at a former air base since August 2011, and two crew members of the Sun Oil-1 vessel arrested in January 2015. In addition, the diplomats provided consular assistance to Ukrainian citizens who work in Libya as doctors.

As a result of the incident, the Libyan ambassador to Ukraine was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was demanded to investigate the events immediately and to punish those responsible.

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