Navy troops from Myanmar have been denied admission to Ukraine and are currently stranded in the Kuala Lumpur airport, awaiting visas

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

According to Justice for Myanmar, the military team was visiting the country in conjunction with a frigate building deal involving Ukrainian state-owned armaments businesses.

 

According to activist group Justice For Myanmar, eighteen Myanmar navy officers were denied admission to Ukraine last week and flew to Malaysia to request for visas at the country's embassy in Kuala Lumpur (KL) (JFM).

According to JFM, the men were part of a 20-person group travelling to Ukraine for a project combining two Ukrainian state-owned arms companies, Ukroboronservice and Zorya-Mashproyekt, to build a Myanmar naval frigate.

 

Military soldiers were seen gathering with their bags in what was believed to be the Kyiv airport, according to photographs sent to Myanmar Now by JFM, with some resting on the ground.

"[They] were unable to get through immigration and were deported after sleeping for two days in the [Kyiv] airport."
They flew from Doha to KL and have been stuck in the KL airport, unable to pass through immigration," according to a JFM source.
“They are currently attempting to obtain visas from the Ukrainian embassy in Kuala Lumpur in order to return to Ukraine.”

 

According to hotel personnel, 22 members of the Myanmar delegation checked into the Sama Sama transit hotel in the Kuala Lumpur airport on October 3 and will check out on October 8.

18 troops were denied admission at the Ukraine airport and travelled to Kuala Lumpur to seek Ukrainian visas, according to a Myanmar naval officer staying at the transit hotel.
He declined to say anything else about the trip.

 

According to JFM, Ukroboronservice and Zorya-Mashproyekt, two Ukrainian state-owned companies, are designing propulsion systems and supplying the Myanmar vessels' primary turbines and reduction gears.

Officials from Ukrainian firms have made many trips to Yangon and Naypyitaw since 2017, according to the JFM source, with their participation to the frigate project valued at roughly US$57 million, which was mediated by Myanmar company Trident Marine.