Defense Minister Prabowo's Role Behind The Evacuation Of 80 Indonesian Citizens From Ukraine: Always In Contact With The Russian Ministry Of Defense

JAKARTA - Deputy Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Muhammad Herindra representing Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto received the return of Indonesian Citizens (WNI) who were evacuated from the Ukrainian war zone at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten.

A total of 80 Indonesian citizens and three foreign nationals who are families of Indonesian citizens are in the group. They arrived safely in the country at around 17.10 WIB on a Garuda Indonesia plane.

Deputy Minister of Defense Herindra said that in this evacuation effort, Defense Minister Prabowo always coordinated with Foreign Minister Retno, and took defense diplomacy steps by communicating directly with the Russian Defense Minister via telephone to ensure the safety of Indonesian citizens during the evacuation process.

"RI Minister of Defense Pak Prabowo Subianto strives to always be in contact with the Russian Ministry of Defense so that the evacuation process that has been carried out so far runs safely so that Indonesian citizens will remain secure," said Deputy Defense Minister Herindra, quoted from a written statement, Thursday, March 3.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi explained that during this evacuation process, the pick-up team from Jakarta departed for Bucharest from Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Tuesday 2 March 2022 at 18.40 WIB and arrived at Henri Coanda Airport, Bucharest, 3 March 2022 at 15.10 local time.

The return plane departed from Bucharest to Jakarta at 20:23 local time or 5.5 hours after landing. The route taken is Bucharest - Madinah - Jakarta with a travel time of approximately 17 hours.

Foreign Minister Retno further expressed her high appreciation to the Indonesian Ambassadors in Bucharest, Warsaw, Kiev and Moscow and the entire team who worked hand in hand to carry out this very difficult evacuation.

Foreign Minister Retno expressed her gratitude to Defense Minister Prabowo, the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI), and the pick-up team consisting of TNI Headquarters, BIN, Garuda Indonesia, and other agencies who had helped smooth the pick-up process.