Russian source: News on evacuation of Russians from Syria untrue

A source at the Russian Embassy in Damascus said that the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's airplanes will take abroad around 100 Russian nationals who live in Syria upon their request, stressing that this is not an evacuation of the Russian nationals from Syria. The source added that there is not any talk about evacuation by any way, noting that only the Russians who want to travel to Moscow will be transferred for free via the two airplanes of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, especially those whose houses have been destroyed. It pointed out that the ones who will be transferred today are Russian nationals who have permanent residence in Syria, affirming that they are not members of the Russian diplomatic staff working in it. The Russian diplomatic source stressed that the flights from Damascus to Moscow and vice versa are on and regular, adding that the Syrian Arab Airlines runs two flights a week between the two capitals.