MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. Russia’s emergencies ministry plans to take all Russians evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Russia within a week, Deputy Minister Alexey Serko said on Monday.
"Thanks to the joint efforts of the foreign and emergencies ministries and other agencies, we have managed to return our nationals to Russia today. I hope people will be returning every day. <…> I hope we will evacuate all of them within a week, or even earlier if we can," he said.
According to Serko, two more planes are waiting for the evacuees in Cairo. "We have as many planes as needed to evacuate everyone without delays. To offer them all-round assistance and support as soon as possible," he added.
Earlier in the day, a ministry’s Il-76 plane with 70 Russian nationals who had been evacuated from the Gaza Strip landed in Moscow. This is the first group of Russians who left Gaza via the Rafah border crossing. The plane took of from Cairo on Monday afternoon.
Russia’s emergencies ministry jointly with Russian diplomats are actively working to evacuate Russians from the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, 70 Russian nationals, including 28 children, crossed into Egypt via the Rafah checkpoint and 98 - on Monday. Thus, as many as 168 Russians have been evacuated over the past two days.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier that the lists of those willing to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip have more than 1,000 names. There are "both Russians and compatriots, as well as 300 minors" among them.