The Independence Monument is seen during the sunset in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 14, 2022. Antonio Bronic, Reuters/File
MANILA—Some 8 Filipinos are going back to the Philippines amid a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Filipino migrant worker said Tuesday.
"Ang mga uuwi po sa Thursday meron pong 8 na po. 'Yun po 'yung sigurado na may ticket na po. Sagot po ng gobyerno," Shirley Santosildes, head of United Filipino Global-Ukraine, told ANC's "Rundown".
The Philippine Embassy in Poland offered free airline tickets to Filipinos living in Ukraine, she added.
Amid crisis in the former Soviet republic, Santosildes said there were Filipinos who have fled capital Kyiv.
"'Yung safest place na puwede namin puntahan ay Lviv. Ang ibang Filipino ay nandun na ngayon," she said.
For now, Santosildes said the capital remains peaceful.
"Everything is normal. Everything in Kyiv is operational. The transportation is normal, supermarkets, lahat po. Sobrang wala kang indications na merong gulo," she said.
Santosildes, also a teacher, said about 100 Filipinos in Ukraine were on alert in case of the feared Russian invasion.
"So far lahat naman ay ready," she said.
US officials said Russia had amassed more than 130,000 soldiers at Ukraine's borders who would start by bombarding the country's big cities and defense positions with missiles before moving in with tanks.
Western leaders consider the Russian troop build-up to be the worst threat to the continent's security since the Cold War, and have prepared a crippling package of economic sanctions in response to any attack on Ukraine -- although Moscow has repeatedly said it has no such plans.
—With a report from Agence France-Presse