Seoul/Kiev, Mar 19 (IANS): South Korean Embassy officials have started withdrawing from their temporary mission in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv as Russia has stepped up bombings in the region, a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said.

They were evacuating to Hungary along with three South Korean nationals as the outskirts of the city of came under missile strikes and shelling by Russian forces on Friday, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"The members of the temporary mission in Lviv departed leading South Korean nationals in the morning and are moving to an area which the compatriots wanted," the Ministry official said.

The Embassy was relocated from the capital Kiev to three separate places, including Lviv, to support remaining Korean nationals in the war-ravaged country.

The two others are in Ukraine's Chernivtsi and Romania.

There were five Korean nationals in the city and three of them joined the evacuation by vehicle, the official said, adding the Foreign Ministry will keep an eye on the other two, who reportedly decided to stay.

No damage was reported among South Koreans from the attacks in Lviv, the official added.