Argentine soccer players Claudio Spinelli and Francisco Di Franco, who play in the Ukrainian league, were evacuated in the last few hours from that country, through diplomatic efforts, and are already outside the territory that is being invaded by Russia.
This was confirmed by the director of Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry and coordinator of the assistance of Argentines in Ukraine, Laura Cachaza, in dialogue this morning with radio station La Red.
It is about the Argentine forward Claudio Spinelli, 25 years old, Oleksandria player of the Ukrainian Premier League, former Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata; and Francisco Di Franco, 27 years old and former Boca Juniors, who has been in Ukraine the longest: in 2017 he arrived in Karpaty and since the 2019/20 season he has played in Dnipro.
“Spinelli entered Poland this morning with a car managed by our embassy in Poland and is now on its way to Krakow,” said the Foreign Ministry official, who added that the soccer player who was directed by Diego Armando Maradona in Gimnasia, “He was always in contact with the Argentine embassy while driving on the road to the Polish border.”
Meanwhile, Di Franco “entered Romania, along with 13 soccer players of other nationalities.”
“There was a time when they could not enter, since only women and children were allowed to pass through that crossing, but due to an intervention by our ambassador there (Elena Mikusinski) who spoke on the phone in Ukrainian with the people at the border post and that allowed everyone to enter, and they are already on their way to the city to catch a flight,” explained Cachaza.
The director of Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry assured that “Argentina keeps its ambassador together with the consul (Yusef Saber) in Kiev – the capital of Ukraine -, in his residence for a security issue, since the offices of the Argentine embassy are on a sixth floor of a building and it’s very exposed.
That’s why, as he explained. “They moved the operation of the embassy to the residence by applying an emergency mechanism that allowed us to take the necessary elements to work and, for example, make a temporary passport for people who need a travel document to be able to leave Ukraine.”
He also stated that “there are Argentine families with minors housed in the residence of the ambassador, which is in the center of Kiev.”
Regarding the situation of these Argentine families, he pointed out that “possible evacuations are being evaluated, but only when security conditions are in place. There is a curfew at night and the situation is very complex and the main thing is to protect the safety of the compatriots”.
“She – the ambassador – is in permanent contact with the diplomatic representations of Latin American countries in Ukraine, which are Cuba, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. In these cases we put in place consular cooperation mechanisms,” he said.
In addition, from the Argentine Foreign Ministry “we are coordinating with all the foreign ministries of Latin American countries, whether or not they have an embassy in Ukraine, and through a consular cooperation mechanism we are articulating to help all citizens of Latin American countries.”
He also pointed out that “for now, an evacuation of the ambassador and the consul is not contemplated” and said that “there are contingency plans for any situation that may occur because reality is very dynamic.”
“They are committed to the security and assistance of Argentine citizens who are still in Ukraine,” he said.
Regarding the presence of Argentines in Ukraine, Cachaza clarified that “those who communicated with the embassy and sent their data are 83 residents there and around 20 who were temporarily, but there may be more Argentines who have not communicated. Luckily, we must deduct from that number the two soccer players and three more citizens who have already left” the war zone.
