TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Friday (Feb. 25) announced that 18 of the 33 Taiwanese citizens stranded in Ukraine are being transported by bus to western Ukraine and have encountered heavy traffic as civilians flee the fighting across the country following an invasion by Russian forces.

According to the latest update from Taiwan's representative offices in Russia and Poland, the Moscow office arranged for an evacuation bus to depart from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a major target for Russian troops, at 10 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 24) Taipei time. Initially, 13 Taiwanese citizens and their spouses boarded the bus to be transported to the western city of Lviv.

The most recent report stated that the bus was bound for western Ukraine, but had encountered heavy traffic congestion. After continuous contact with Taiwan's representative offices, five other Taiwanese citizens are planning to board the bus at some point on its route.

This brings the total number of Taiwanese being evacuated to western Ukraine to 18. The Warsaw representative office has made preparations for their arrival and dispatched staff to meet them at the border between Ukraine and Poland to assist them with customs entry procedures.

Two other Taiwanese are already in western Ukraine and 13 in other parts of the country, including Kyiv, bringing the total to 33. Of these, nine are students, including five making their way west; two are headed toward Poland, one is still in east Ukraine, and one has remained in south Ukraine.

Amid the rising tensions before the invasion, MOFA issued seven press releases from Feb. 12 to Feb. 22 in which it raised the travel advisory, called on citizens to avoid travel to Ukraine, and advised expatriates still in the country to leave as soon as possible. Despite these warnings to leave, many students did not believe war would break out, while others were concerned about the high cost of Taiwan quarantine hotels.

Regarding the announcement by the Chinese embassy in Ukraine that it would arrange for a special plane to evacuate Chinese as well as Taiwanese, MOFA stated that the message, "once again proves the Chinese government is taking advantage of the disaster in Ukraine to manipulate political propaganda and maliciously spread false information in an attempt to smear the image of the Taiwanese government and denigrate the efforts of MOFA in protecting overseas Taiwanese." The ministry added that these tactics by China "have only increased resentment by the Taiwanese government and people."