British embassy does not plan to evacuate from Kyiv

Melinda Simmons, a British diplomat and the current Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Ukraine, explained her stance in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

"No, no evacuation is planned. We have security that allows us to stay here. I have been here for several months now, living in this war conditions the same as Ukrainian do. It is certainly fair to say that the circumstances of our departure now differ from the circumstances under which we first evacuated in February. And this is not because we consider the threat to be less serious: it is still serious. But we now have a better idea of ​​both the potential of Ukraine and the potential of Russia," said Simmons.

She added that embassy employees are willing to deal with many issues in order to do their job.

"I would say that adapting to the circumstances is a daily matter, as it is probably for any Ukrainian. But we are willing to deal with this in order to do our work. So far, there are no plans to leave Kyiv. And I think that it's probably very important to a lot of people that we stay," Simmons stressed.

According to her, she understands that the presence of the British Embassy in Kyiv sends an important message for many Ukrainians and for some countries.