MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir have been evacuated from the Soyuz MS-15 manned spacecraft, which landed earlier in Kazakhstan, 147 km to the southeast of the city of Zhezqazghan. The Roscosmos website organized a live transmission of the event.

The spacecraft left the International Space Station (ISS) at 04:53 Moscow time. Russian astronauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner remain at the station along with their NASA colleague Chris Cassidy, who has been appointed commander of the station.

The crew has returned to Earth due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. All astronauts will undergo medical check-ups, after which they will be transported to Baikonur. After that, Skripochka will head to Moscow, and his US colleagues will travel to the USA. All personnel working with the astronauts on land have been tested for COVID-19.