Air Force planes to evacuate Russians from virus-hit Chinese cities – Moscow

Hundreds of Russians stranded in China will be brought home on military aircraft which have already departed from their bases, Moscow said just a day after it confirmed Russia's first coronavirus cases in two Siberian regions.

Russian Air Force planes will ferry Russian citizens from the cities most affected by the new coronavirus, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media. "They will start carrying out [evacuation] flights as of today," he explained.

At the moment, there are 300 Russians in Wuhan — the epicenter of the virus — while the other 341 are based in the surrounding Hubei province, according to the embassy in Beijing. Every returnee will face 14-days of quarantine, to prevent the spread of the deadly infection. 

The two Siberian coronavirus cases involve Chinese citizens, who are said to be both in stable condition.

Russia isn't the only country planning to repatriate its nationals. India, South Korea, Canada, the UK and Australia have all said they are preparing to send evacuation flights to Wuhan and other cities, while charter jets have already arrived in China to pick up 350 European Union citizens.

Numerous of US and Japanese nationals have already returned home as part of their governments' evacuation efforts. Meanwhile, Beijing warned against spreading panic, insisting that its crisis response measures go far beyond standards set out by international organizations.

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