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Middle East and North Africa

Thirty-seven citizens of Russia and CIS return from Syria

MOSCOW, December 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Thirty-seven citizens of Russia and other CIS member-states, mainly women and children, have arrived in Moscow from Syria on board an Il-62 plane, Russian Emergencies Ministry spokesperson Irina Rossius told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, two planes of the Emergencies Ministry, Il-76 and Il-62, delivered a 44-tonne humanitarian consignment to Syria’s Latakia. On the way back Il-62 took 37 people on board, including 24 Russians, three Ukrainians, one Kazakh citizen and seven Syrians — husbands of Russian women, who left Syria with their families.

The plane landed at Moscow Domodedovo Airport, where it was met by officials from the Emergencies Ministry, the Federal Migration Service and embassies.

“Among those who returned from Syria are nineteen women and eight children,” Rossius said.

In 2013, the Russian Emergencies Ministry sent over 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Syria and neighboring Lebanon and Jordan. Another 70 tonnes were intended for Palestinian refugees in Syria. The humanitarian consignment consisted of tents, electric generators, dishware, camp furniture, blankets, food and baby food.

The ministry’s planes brought around 900 citizens of Russia and the CIS member-states back to their homeland.

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