'Don't travel to Ukraine to deliver aid or take up arms', says Simon Coveney

Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney: 'The advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs to everyone is not to travel to Ukraine, whether you feel like you want to join the fight or whether you want to deliver aid, or whatever your motivation.' File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins 

Irish people have been strongly advised not to travel to Ukraine either to deliver aid or to take up arms, the Foreign Affairs Minister has said.

Appearing before the Oireachtas foreign affairs and defence committee, Simon Coveney also warned of "increased cyber threat" to Ireland as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Coveney added that expelling the Russian ambassador in Ireland "does not make sense".

He said he "totally understands the sentiment and the anger" and the calls to ask the Russian ambassador to leave the country, but the Government believes diplomatic channels need to remain open — especially in wartime.

He said he had an obligation to Irish citizens living in Russia, adding no country had yet expelled a Russian diplomat.

Mr Coveney said he was aware of people who were currently planning on travelling in buses to the border with Ukraine to assist those fleeing the war, however, he said it was easier to fly to Ireland rather than be brought across Europe in buses.

Sinn Féin's John Brady told the minister he was aware of Irish people who want to travel to Ukraine to take up arms.

Responding, Mr Coveney said: "The advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs to everyone is not to travel to Ukraine, whether you feel like you want to join the fight or whether you want to deliver aid, or whatever your motivation. We have very clear travel advice not to travel to Ukraine."

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Mr Coveney said the attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol was "unconscionable" and expressed "profound sorrow and sympathy for the victims of this illegal act of violence."

"These events speaks directly to the need for international pressure to be brought to bear so this senseless conflict can be halted as soon as possible," he said.

He told the committee that 200 schools and many hospitals across Ukraine have now been targeted and attacked by Russian forces.

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon questioned whether Ireland is now at further risk, especially to cyber attacks, after the Russian ambassador described this country as a hotbed of anti-Putin sentiment on Russian TV.

"There is an increased cyber threat in our assessment and we are taking the appropriate precautions in relation to that in terms of a heightened sense of awareness and concern in that space," Mr Coveney said.

Asked about potential Irish involvement, Mr Coveney said: "I've made it clear to colleagues in the EU countries that border Ukraine that we are available to help in any way we can from a logistics perspective or in any other perspective, quite frankly, in terms of helping countries to deal with an enormous flow of people."