Faroese diplomat in Russia evacuates his family to Faroes

The situation in Moscow is deteriorating by the hour, says Hákun J. Djurhuus, who heads the Faroese Representation in Moscow.

Having been advised to take his family out of Russia until further notice as a safety precaution, he and his family left Moscow on Tuesday night.

“Living conditions in Russia have become unbearable since the international sanctions were imposed,” he said on the phone this morning as he was driving with his family through Sweden towards Denmark on their way to the Faroes.

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“The growing fear among the Russian public has caused large streams of Russians to flee toward the Finnish border. Our children’s school has closed down, so it felt the time had come to bring my family back to safety in the Faroes.”

It is not unlikely, he added, that President Putin will declare martial law – a temporary imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions – in Russia in the coming days or weeks.

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Djurhuus expects to return to Moscow in a few days or as soon as the situation allows for it.

There is still a lot of work to do at the Faroese Representation office in Moscow, he said, despite Faroese fish exporters having temporarily cut their ties to the Russian market as part of the government’s sanctions package against Russia.

”Along with routine duties at the office, we also receive requests from Russian and Ukrainian people who want to come to the Faroes during these chaotic times.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.