Russian Armed Forces Aircraft to Evacuate Citizens From China – Agencies

By Reuters

Updated: Feb. 1, 2020

Russia has already reported its first two cases of coronavirus. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

The Russian military will evacuate Russian citizens from China due to the coronavirus outbreak, news agencies reported on Saturday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the evacuation would take place in regions that had been most affected by the outbreak, Interfax and TASS news agencies reported.

Peskov first said that evacuation will start on Saturday but later corrected himself, saying it will be carried out on Monday and Tuesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry plans to use five airplanes to evacuate people from China, the state-run RIA state news agency reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Friday that Russia planned to evacuate more than 600 of its citizens now in Wuhan and Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak in China, and they will be quarantined for 14 days.

Russia has already reported its first two cases of coronavirus and restricted direct flights to China, its biggest trade partner.

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