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Diplomats in US begin raising funds for Russians who are unable to return home

About 250 Russians were expected to return from New York to Moscow on April 3

WASHINGTON, April 5. /TASS/. Russian diplomats in the United States have begun raising funds for citizens of the Russian Federation who have been unable to return to their home country, the Russian Embassy in the US reported.

"Our employees have begun raising funds in the diplomatic mission to support citizens in a difficult situation in the United States. The funds will be used to pay for hotel accommodation and purchase basic necessities for the most needy compatriots," the embassy said in a Twitter post.

About 250 Russians were expected to return from New York to Moscow on April 3. According to Russia’s coronavirus crisis center, international flights used to evacuate Russian citizens from other countries were suspended on April 4.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.