MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry is evacuating from Sudan more than 200 people: employees of the Russian diplomatic mission, Russian servicemen and their family members, citizens of Russia, CIS countries and several friendly foreign states, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry reported that following a Russian president’s decision, “the people are being evacuated on the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces.” “Four Il-76 aircraft are carrying more than 200 people, as well as accompanying persons and cargo, from the Republic of Sudan to the Russian Federation,” the statement said.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said on Monday evening that 10 citizens of Belarus, including pilots, who were in Sudan, flew from Khartoum to Moscow on an evacuation flight.

The situation in Sudan escalated amid disagreements between the army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the ruling Sovereignty Council, and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), who is al-Burhan’s deputy on the council.

The main points of contention between the two military organizations pertain to the timeline and methods for unifying the armed forces of Sudan, as well as who should be appointed as commander-in-chief of the army: a career military officer, which is al-Burhan’s preferred option, or an elected civilian president, as Dagalo insists.

On April 15, armed clashes between the rival military factions erupted near a military base in Merowe and in the capital, Khartoum. According to the country’s health ministry, several hundred people have been killed since the fighting began.