Russian diplomats start leaving Ukraine amid rising tensions between Moscow, Kyiv

Russian diplomats and employees of the Russian consulates started leaving Ukraine, which made it more difficult to make an appointment at the diplomatic agencies, an informed source told Sputnik on Saturday.

"According to Ukrainian citizens, Russian diplomats and consular officials in Ukraine began to leave for Russia. This, in particular, is proved by difficulties arising when making an appointment at the consulates and the embassy," the source said.

The source added that Moscow might have decided to follow the example of some Western countries which announced evacuation from Ukraine.

"By the way, [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov hinted at the possibility of this scenario during a press conference following negotiations with UK Foreign Minister Elizabeth Truss," the source said.

In late January, Lavrov said that Russia was going to consider taking precautions regarding Russian diplomats in Ukraine.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia announced their plans to partly evacuate their diplomatic staff from Ukraine over Russia's escalation which Moscow denies. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )

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