MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. More than 570 out of the 909 people who asked Russia for help evacuating the Gaza Strip have left, Russian Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov said at a government meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, 909 people applied for evacuation assistance, among whom 639 Russian citizens and 271 Palestinians were relatives of our civilians. There were no requests for evacuation from citizens of other countries to the Russian Emergencies Ministry aviation. To date, 484 Russian citizens and 87 of their relatives who are citizens of other states have already crossed the Rafah border crossing," he said.
Kurenkov added that 553 people, including 259 children, were flown to Domodedovo airport by six Russian Emergencies Ministry planes, while 18 people are awaiting evacuation in a hotel in Cairo. "Upon arrival in Russia, nine people, including six children, were sent to hospitals. Two of them, including one child, have been diagnosed with COVID-19," the minister added.
Besides, the minister said that 116 people, including 44 children, went from the airport of arrival to the places of accommodation after passing all the required procedures on their own. The rest of the arrivals were taken to temporary accommodation centers in the Moscow and Kaluga regions. Kurenkov also said that work is underway to accommodate those arriving in other regions of Russia. "To date, 313 people, including 161 children, are in TACs," the minister said. According to him, a total of 116 people, including 48 children, have been sent to 16 regions of Russia since the beginning of the evacuation.
Work on the evacuation of Russian citizens from the Gaza Strip is carried out by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations along with the Foreign Ministry, the Federal Security Service, the Interior Ministry, the Health Ministry and other federal executive bodies concerned.
A task force of the Russian Emergencies Ministry arrived in Egypt on November 3. In cooperation with representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the agency's employees meet Russians at the Rafah border crossing point and assist them in passing through customs procedures. After passing through the checkpoint, people are taken to Cairo hotels by bus. There they wait to be sent back to Russia.