The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that all 11 Filipinos on board a bulk carrier bombed Thursday 50 miles south of Ukraine’s port city Odessa are safe. Citing the personnel relations officer of the Marshall Islands-flagged Yasa Jupiter, “all crew members on board, including 11 Filipinos, were not hurt and are safe”. The Filipinos have already gotten in touch with their families. “The Philippine Embassy in Ankara and the Philippine Consulate General in Istanbul are jointly coordinating with Yasa Holding, the Turkish owner of the ship,” the DFA said in a statement on Saturday. The three-year-old vessel arrived at

At least 40 Filipinos have fled Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and headed to the western city of Lviv after Russia launched a full-scale attack on Feb. 24. In a statement Saturday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed their safe arrival in Lviv, expecting the number to increase in the coming days. “The Philippine Embassy in cooperation with DFA-OUMWA (Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs), is committed to assisting the remaining Filipinos in Kyiv and in other parts of Ukraine in order to bring them out of harm’s way while there is still time,” Philippine Ambassador to Poland Leah

Ukraine has shot down two Russian fighter jets, an IL-76 aircraft and a helicopter, Ukrainian officials said Saturday. The head of the Vinnytsia Regional State Administration, Serhiy Borzov, said on social media that Ukraine shot down a Russian SU-25 fighter jet near Kalynivka in the Vinnytsia region. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also said on Facebook that Ukrainian air defense systems shot down an IL-76 aircraft carrying paratroopers from the Russian airborne troops in the Vasylkiv region. Located near Kyiv, Vasylkiv is 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian Air Force likewise said that