MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. About 25,000 Russians have expressed the desire to return to their home country because of coronavirus-related restrictions, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department Ivan Volynkin said on Wednesday at a meeting of the Russian Federation Council (upper house) Foreign Affairs Committee.

"At the moment, there are about 25,000 such citizens abroad who have expressed the desire to return to Russia," he stated.

The diplomat noted that the Foreign Ministry’s Crisis Management Center was in charge of the evacuation of those Russians who are currently abroad for one reason or another. "The issues related to arranging flights to evacuate Russian citizens are being addressed. All embassies and consulates have been in touch with the Russians," he stressed.

According to Volynkin, flights are performed daily, a certain procedure has been established, given arrival restrictions.

The Moscow-based crisis center earlier decided to curtail international flights to evacuate Russian citizens from abroad from March 31. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency earlier informed that only Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport would be open for such flights. The latter should number not more than 500 people a day as returning to the capital city, Moscow. The quota for other Russian cities is not more than 200 people a day.