MOSCOW, January 23 (Itar-Tass) - A Russian emergencies ministry’s planes, one of the two sent to Beirut to evacuate Russian nations who want to leave Syria, took off from Beirut late on Tuesday, a ministry spokesman told Itar-Tass.

“The Yak-42 plane took off from Beirut at 23:12 Moscow time. It will take 28 Russian citizens, including 15 children and ten women, to Moscow,” the spokesman said. They are accompanied by rescuers, medics from the Tsentrospas emergency team, and psychologists.

The plane is expected to land at Moscow’s Domodedovo airports in five hours.

The other jet, an Lyushin-76, is leaving Beirut soon.

According to Russian diplomat, no large-scale evacuation of Russian citizens is planned. “We are taking home those people who asked help from the Russian embassy in Damascus. These people are from different Syrian regions, who lost their homes and property in the armed conflict,” said a Russian diplomat.