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Coronavirus pandemic

More than 300 Russians, including school students, to fly home from New York — diplomat

Earlier, the spokeswoman pledged that the Foreign Ministry would derive proper conclusions from the US authorities’ insufficient assistance in tracking down Russian school children

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. More than 300 Russian citizens, including school students, will fly back from New York to Russia soon, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.

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"The plane has already left for New York. We expect back home more than 300 compatriots, including our teenagers, who stayed in the United States under so-called exchange programs that sparked a row lately," she said.

Earlier, Zakharova told a news briefing that the Foreign Ministry would derive proper conclusions from the US authorities’ insufficient assistance in tracking down Russian school children. She said that earlier high school students had gone to the United States from Russia under various educational and travel programs only to find problems with getting back home amid the pandemic. US officials preferred to distance themselves from this problem and ignored messages from the Russian embassy, Zakharova stressed. About 80 Russian school students were staying in the United States since last autumn. About 40 of them are back home already.

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