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Special Moscow-bound flight takes off from New York

It is scheduled to land at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport at 11:26 Moscow time

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

NEW YORK, June 17. /TASS/. A special Moscow-bound flight took off from New York with Russian citizens on board, the Russian Consulate General in New York said on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

"On June 16, the Russian Consulate General in New York rendered the necessary assistance for the departure of a yet another ‘repatriation’ flight," the Russian diplomatic mission said. "Despite the complicated epidemiological situation in New York, diplomats of the consulate were present at JFK Airport, just like before."

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said the flight has 343 Russian citizens on board, "including one school student and eight babies."

He also confirmed that Russian citizen Stanislav Lisov, sentenced by a US court to four years in prison on cyber fraud charges, was on board the plane.

"At present, S.V. Lisov is on board the plane and is returning to his motherland," Antonov added.

Consul-Adviser of Russia’s Consulate General in New York Artyom Tevanyan earlier told TASS that Lisov was expected to board the plane.

He was taken to the airport earlier in the day for subsequent deportation to Russia.

According to JFK Airport’s website, flight SU103 departed at 19:20 local time (02:20 Moscow time). It is scheduled to land at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport at 11:26 Moscow time.

Lisov was arrested by Spain in January 2017 and extradited to the United States in January 2018. In February of this year, he pleaded guilty on one of two counts. The US authorities accused Lisov of creating the NeverQuest (Never Quest) malware to steal bank data and personal information. Initially, he could have face imprisonment of up to 35 years.

On June 10, Lisov was transferred to a deportation center from a prison in Pennsylvania.

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