Some 11 Guyanese students are currently in Russia on scholarships and while they are not directly affected by the ongoing war which was launched on Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud has said local authorities are closely monitoring the situation.
“So far no student is in direct danger but the situation is being constantly monitored closely,” Persaud yesterday told Stabroek News when contacted for a comment.
Persaud said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd, raised the issue of the welfare of the students in a meeting on Thursday with the Russian Ambassador to Guyana.
He added that Ministry of Public Service is in direct contact with the 11 students, who are presently in Russia.
Stabroek News was informed that as of yesterday there has been no request from any of the Guyanese students to return home.
On Thursday, Russian forces unleashed the biggest attack in Europe since World War Two on neighbouring Ukraine, prompting thousands of people to flee their homes.
The assault brought an end to weeks of fruitless diplomatic efforts by Western leaders to avert war over Russian demands for a redrawing of post-Cold War security arrangements in Europe.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a pre-dawn televised address on Thursday, explosions and gunfire were heard in Ukraine’s capital and elsewhere in the country. Ukraine has reported that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far. Russia has not released casualty figures.
In an invited comment yesterday, Todd told Stabroek News that the government will be “sticking” to its statement which was released on Thursday.
He said they will provide further information as it becomes available.
In the statement, the Government of Guyana had said that it was “gravely concerned” over the recent “military intervention by Russia in violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine”.
It called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomacy. “The Government of Guyana deplores the threat or use of force in the conduct of international relations and urges a peaceful resolution of the differences that currently exist, in consonance with the rule of international law and the provisions of the United Nations Charter,” the statement said.
“The current military action in Ukraine is contrary to the principles of respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty and the non-interference in the internal affairs of another sovereign state”, it added.
The statement added that the aggression against Ukraine was a threat to the region and countries everywhere.
Business as usual
Stabroek News yesterday spoke to two Guyanese who are currently studying in Moscow, Russia. They said it’s “business as usual” in the capital city.
Since she is not affected, Sonia Herbert, who is currently in her fourth year of scholarship from the Ministry of Public Service, said she is not looking to return home at this point. “I am currently in my fourth year…This semester is very important for me so I am trying to stay and finish off my semester so I can get to my final year. Final year is a breeze and most of it will be spent in Guyana doing practical work,” Herbert explained.
“…I am not leaving. I already invested my four years and if the war is not here then why am I leaving? So long as I can live and serve I am not leaving because I am almost finished,” she added.
Herbert, an Assistant Superintendent attached to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) said she is among six Guyanese police officers who are currently studying in Russia. “Here in Moscow everything is normal. It’s business as usual,” she said.
Meanwhile, Reanna Nickram who is studying Psychology, described the situation as “pretty calm” at this point.
Nickram said she too is not directly impacted. “Right now the situation here is pretty calm in my area….Daily life here is normal……We are just trying to grasp the reality of it because it happened so quickly,” Nickram told Stabroek News.
Sanctions
Numerous Western countries have since announced sanctions on Russia, including blacklisting its banks and banning technology imports. But they have so far stopped short of forcing it out of the SWIFT system for international bank payments, drawing criticism from Kyiv.
According to Herbert and Nickram, some Guyanese students have already begun to feel the impact of the sanctions.
“After the President of the United States (Joseph Biden) indicated his package of sanctions, currently the Western Union is not working here so those students who depend on their families to send them money and so on to survive out here, they can’t get no money through Western Union,” Herbert said, while adding,” those students who solely depend on their families to send them money they are going to feel the sanction”.
She said the only bank card that is currently working for Guyanese students are the Republic Bank ones.
“The only bank card that works here in Russia is the Republic Bank card and as it relates to using your Visa card here only one bank at the moment allowing us to get money. All the others block the card,” Herbert said.
“A lot of students here depend on like Western Union to receive money from their parents. Western Union has been blocked so we can’t receive money through Western Union. The only thing that is working for us now is Republic Bank cards. There are students who are not part of that bank…So we don’t know how they are going to receive money as the days go by,” Nickram added.
According to Nickram, there has been “silence” in Russia since the attack was launched. “Here in Russia right now everyone is silent. Nobody is saying anything. Our university didn’t make any announcements. They still haven’t made any announcements about the situation. If anything they have told us that everybody that is outside of Russia needs to be back here for in-person classes,” she further related.
Face-to-face classes, she said, resume in March.
Apart from the six police officers, the remaining five Guyanese students are said to be in Russia on scholarships they received through the Russian Govern-ment.
About three of them are said to be attending universities in Rostov, which is currently on lockdown. “It’s not about being scared right now. We are just like lost, confused,” Nickram said.
Guyanese in Russia requesting support can email eaharper@minfor.gov.gy.
