The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said Filipinos in Russia are safe and in good shape following the armed rebellion staged by a private mercenary group over the weekend.
Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said there are around 10,000 Filipinos in Russia and 9,000 of them are in Moscow, which the mercenary group Wagner did not enter.
“The Wagner group entered Rostov, which is 1,000 kilometers away. And the embassy in Moscow contacted the Filipinos there. There are 11 Filipinos there,” De Vega said, in an interview with GMA News “Unang Balita”.
“They are in good condition and the mini-rebellion has already ended so the situation in Russia is getting back to normal,” he added.
But authorities remain vigilant in light of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, according to De Vega.
De Vega stressed that no Filipinos in Russia, including those in Rostov, have expressed interest in leaving the country or being evacuated.
“Even the people in Rostov, when the embassy talked to them, said they are safe despite the presence of tanks in the city,” he said.
The Philippine Embassy over the weekend asked Filipinos in Russia to remain vigilant and take precautions, and cautioned them against putting out political opinions on social media.
This was after Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had already taken control of Rustov-on-Don as part of an attempt to oust the military leadership.
The group that advanced most of the way to Moscow turned back on Saturday, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power, in a move Prigozhin said would avoid bloodshed, Reuters reported.
Reports also said that the Russian mercenaries have already withdrawn from Rostov under a deal that halted their rapid advance on Moscow. Prigozhin, meanwhile, will move to Belarus under the deal mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Putin has not commented publicly since the deal was struck to de-escalate one of the biggest challenges since he rose to power more than two decades ago.