MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. About 1,000 Russians and CIS nationals have expressed a desire to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"In the Palestinian territories, primarily in the Gaza Strip, the situation [with evacuation] is much more complicated (than in Israel - TASS)," she said at a news conference. "As of today, about 1,000 citizens of the Russian Federation and CIS countries have applied to our diplomatic mission with a request to evacuate them from the enclave."

The spokeswoman said that "on orders from Russian President [Vladimir Putin], a set of measures is being implemented to arrange a safe evacuation of fellow citizens who have applied for help in the fastest possible manner."

"An interdepartmental task force has already been set up, and the forces and means necessary for evacuation have been mobilized," she stated. "We are closely cooperating with the Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian authorities, the relevant international organizations. We will be ready to immediately begin evacuation measures after the opening of the Rafah checkpoint on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt."

Zakharova also commented on Israeli reports that several Russian nationals had been killed.

"Reports were received the day before that more than 20 people were killed," she said. "I can say, citing our diplomatic mission, that these are people who permanently resided in Israel, had citizenship of that country and at the same time were Russian citizens. Each name is being double-checked whether they had Russian citizenship. As of this time, we can confirm the deaths of 15 people who also had Russian citizenship, and the rest are being checked."