PHILADELPHIA — The seven Ukrainian sailors who’ve been stuck on a merchant ship docked in Philadelphia as Russia invaded their country have finally been allowed to go ashore — presumably into the embrace of Philadelphia’s Ukrainian community of Philadelphia.
The seafarers left the ship Wednesday morning and were headed to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Old City. Their hope is to receive temporary protective status, which would allow them to live here while their homeland is at war, according to Iryna Mazur, a Philadelphia lawyer and Honorary Consul of Ukraine.
The men were earlier spared from detention, which had been another possibility.
