MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. Yana Abukhadzharas, who was evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Moscow, told TASS about bombings near the Rafah checkpoint where evacuees have been crossing into of late.
"It’s very scary and dangerous out there. We saw a bomb flying and hitting a house as we sat [at the border crossing]. Ordinary people, just like you and me, are getting killed - families, children, grandparents," she said.
According to her, the Russian embassy has been trying to reach Russians, calling their local numbers, despite phones being cut off in the Palestinian enclave. While she chose to evacuate, her husband stayed behind to help his elderly parents, Abukhadzharas said. The woman and her two small kids spent 18 hours on the border, while they bordered their flight within 90 minutes upon arrival in Cairo.
Another Russian evacuee, Natalia, who was flown to Moscow earlier on Sunday, said it took her three days to get homeland. While travelling, they had to "run between tanks," she said. "I had lived for 20 years there before my house was bombed. I used to have everything - a job, a home, my family, children and grandchildren. I am 50 now, and [I have to] start my life anew; I don’t know what to do or what will come next," she lamented.
Both ladies thanked the Russian emergencies and interior ministries as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin personally for the evacuation. "<...> The embassy staff had been fighting for us till the last minute, so I say a huge thank you to them! And to our president, too, of course. I think it is he who helped us," Natalia added.
More than 550 Russians, including 230 children, have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip since November 12. Four special flights have so far brought 408 Russian nationals, with another 148 people currently waiting for a flight home in Cairo. Earlier on Sunday, a fourth group of Russian citizens, or 120 people, arrived at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier that over 1,000 people had applied for evacuation. Increasingly more Russians are seeking to evacuate the enclave, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said as it pledged every effort to evacuate everyone wishing to leave.