Two Malawians have reached out to the Malawi government for evacuation after being caught in the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

The precise number of Malawians living in the Eastern European country is yet to be known but following Thursday’s invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military, the two are the ones who have reached out to the government for support.

Malawi does not have an embassy in Ukraine and uses its mission in Germany to serve its interests in the country.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo confirmed the development, saying Lilongwe was exploring its options on the matter.

She, however, said the ministry could not immediately confirm the identities of the two individuals including whether they are students or workers.

She also was tongue-tied on what government intends to do about the situation.

“So far only two people have reached out to our embassy and the embassy is in talks with them. We are hoping that others will reach out. As of now, we are not sure of how many Malawians are there,” said Tembo.

Neighbouring Zambia and Nigeria revealed before the full-scale invasion plans to evacuate hundreds of their nationals out of Ukraine.

However, with full-scale invasion underway and airlines avoiding the Ukrainian airspace, any evacuation would be a dangerous undertaking and it was unclear as of Friday morning whether the two countries will continue with the plans.

Heavy fighting continues across multiple fronts in Ukraine, according to multiple accounts by international media.

The invasion by land, air, and the sea began after a pre-dawn television address where Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine’s military lay down its arms.

Ukraine’s president said on Thursday night that 137 people had been killed, and 316 wounded so far after Russia launched a full-scale invasion on his country by land, sea, and air.