Zakharova calls Poltava region protests over arrival of evacuees from China sign of 'disorganization of government'
MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has described protests over the arrival of evacuees from the Chinese city of Wuhan, at the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, in Ukraine's Poltava region as "dehumanization of civil society and disorganization of government."
"I've got a question for the protectors of Ukrainian democracy: are you really holding up this country as an example of progressive reforms to the whole world? This is nothing other than monstrous dehumanization of civil society and disorganization of governance. [...] My question to the main initiators of the harassment of China is: are you sure it is necessary to scare the planet with the Chinese threat precisely?" Zakharova said on Facebook.
Enforcement of human rights is the "harmonious coexistence of the individual, society, and state and also mutual respect for their interests," she said.
According to earlier reports, a column of buses carrying Ukrainian and other nationals evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan and accompanying vehicles of emergency services entered the grounds of a Ukrainian National Guard health center in Novi Sanzhary, the Poltava region, on Thursday evening.
The column's passage was preceded by a clash between law enforcers and local residents, who tried to prevent the evacuees' arrival at the health center by blocking the road with burning logs and branches, which firefighters had to remove by hand.
All the evacuees will be placed in individual rooms with a proper standard of comfortable living. The Ukrainian government has promised that all waste will be disposed of separately from the public sewer system and the drainage pipes will be disinfected.
The evacuees are 45 Ukrainians, including a family with an eight-year-old son, a young couple, and 20-year-old students, as well as 27 foreigners who will return home after a two-week period of observation in Ukraine.