MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. The US Department of State is working with private sponsors of programs for Russian schoolchildren to ensure their safe return to Russia, the US embassy in Moscow told TASS on Tuesday.

"The U.S. Department of State is working to ensure that all foreign nationals currently in the United States have access to accurate and timely information to ensure they are able to return to their home countries, if they so choose," it said. "As of April 6, 51 Russian high school students remain in the United States through programs facilitated by private-sector sponsors. We understand that some of these students have expressed to their sponsors a desire to return to Russia, and are working directly through their sponsors."

"While the Department of State does not fund these programs, nor do the participants of this private exchange program receive grants, travel or any other financial assistance from the U.S. government, we will continue to offer support and assistance," it said.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary released earlier in the day that several dozens of Russian schoolchildren had been struck in the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic. She said that the US Department of State had informed the Russian embassy in Washington about that providing no further detail. According to Zakharova, 74 Russian high school students are staying in the United States under the US Department of State’s Secondary School Student Program alone.