MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. As many as 88 Russian citizens crossed the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday, while overall 297 people have been evacuated from Gaza, the press service of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations told TASS.

"The task force of the Russian emergencies ministry in Egypt continues work to receive people who have arrived through the Rafah crossing. Today, 88 citizens of the Russian Federation crossed the checkpoint. In total, 297 people have been evacuated from the conflict zone so far, 168 of them have already been brought to Russia," the press service said.

The ministry said that on Wednesday, its crisis center worked in close coordination with a diplomatic group from Belarus. "As many as 43 Belarusian nationals have crossed the border together with our fellow citizens," the emergencies ministry specified.

Citizens of Russia and Belarus, who have crossed the border, are taken as a single group to Cairo, where Russian rescuers, psychologists and doctors will provide them with all the necessary medical and psychological care. The evacuees will be provided with meals and water and get assistance with the necessary paperwork. After all formalities are completed, planes of the Russian emergencies ministry will fly them to Moscow.

Evacuation from the Gaza Strip of Russian citizens who found themselves in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is organized by the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations in teamwork with diplomats. The first group of 70 Russian citizens crossed into Egypt through Rafah on November 12. An Il-76 aircraft of the emergencies ministry carrying a second group of 98 Russian citizens evacuated from Gaza landed at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport overnight to November 15. A third group of 40 Russians has crossed Rafah out of Gaza.