MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2020) MOSCOW (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 04th April, 2020) Russia suspends, starting April 4, international flights for evacuating citizens from abroad, in order to contain the coronavirus, the national COVID-19 response center confirmed on Friday.
"To maximally protect he health of our citizens and limit a new wave of imported coronavirus cases on the territory of the Russian Federation, from midnight of April 4, 2020, international flights for bringing Russian citizens back home are suspended," the center said in a statement.
"Citizens, who have provided relevant personal information, will also receive the needed social assistance for the period of their staying abroad. The government of the Russian Federation has allocated 500 million rubles [$6.5 million] to the Foreign Ministry," the statement read on.
A source familiar with the matter told Sputnik that Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport has canceled any previously-issued clearance for evacuation flights scheduled to take place after April 4.
"The Federal Agency for Air Transport has revoked all previously issued charter clearance from April 4," the source said.
Additionally, there is no information yet regarding the date when evacuation flights will resume, the source said.
"It is not possible to clarify the date when these will be resumed," the source said.
Thousands of Russian citizens have been repatriated in recent days amid the COVID-19 outbreak. On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that more than 1,300 people were evacuated on Monday from France, Spain, Serbia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Morocco, and Egypt.
On Sunday, head of the consular department of the Russian Embassy in Cairo Yusup Abakarov told Sputnik that more than 2,000 citizens of Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States nations had been repatriated from the Egyptian resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.
