In Libya, armed men robbed Ukrainian diplomats

The Ukrainian ambassador to Libya and the Ukrainian consul in this country were robbed by unknown persons when they were heading from the country's capital, Tripoli, to the village of Ras Agadir on the border with Tunisia. Arab media reported this.

According to a statement by representatives of the Libya Dawn armed group, which currently controls Tripoli, “criminal gangs” attacked the motorcade of the Ukrainian ambassador to Libya in the El Maya area on the road leading from the capital to Ras Agadir, located on the Libyan-Tunisian border " The Libya Dawn information center explained that, according to its data, “on the way to Tunisia, the Ukrainian ambassador was accompanied by the Ukrainian consul.”

During the attack on the diplomatic convoy, “criminal gangs” took away the Ukrainian representatives’ car, mobile phones, as well as “stamps belonging to the Ukrainian embassy and consulate.” After some time, the bandits “released the detainees.” The Libya Dawn news center did not say in which direction the Ukrainian diplomats headed after the attack.

“Libya Dawn” accused “armed forces of Libyan tribes” that cooperate with the Libyan National Army under the command of General Khalifa Haftar of organizing the attack on Ukrainian diplomats. Haftar's Libyan army, for its part, officially rejected these accusations, calling them "an attempt to compromise government forces."

The attack on Ukrainian diplomats and the robbery of the Ukrainian ambassador and consul on the road from Tripoli to the border with Tunisia is the latest such incident involving foreign diplomats. The vast majority of countries withdrew their diplomatic missions from Tripoli last summer, after the Libyan capital was taken under control by the Libya Dawn alliance.

The head of the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Alyona Vashchenko confirmed the information about the attack on diplomats, Ukrainskaya Pravda reports.

“On May 22, near Tripoli, an armed attack was carried out against employees of the Ukrainian Embassy in Libya. As a result of the attack, in particular, the ambassador, the consul and another employee of the diplomatic mission were injured,” Vashchenko said.

According to her, as a result, the attackers took the car, money, documents and personal items from the diplomats.

Vashchenko noted that diplomats are safe in Tripoli and recover documents.

“The car was returned, representatives of Tripoli are engaged in restoring it and restoring documents so that our diplomats can return to Tunisia,” the diplomat added.

The Foreign Ministry explained that the Ukrainian diplomats were returning from Tripoli to Tunisia (here there is a Ukrainian embassy here, evacuated from Libya in connection with the hostilities).