MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The fifth plane that Russia has sent to Yemen to evacuate Russian and foreign nationals from the conflict-torn country landed at the Chkalovsky military airport base in the Moscow Region in the early hours of Tuesday.
The plane evacuated a total of 150 people from Yemen, including five children under the age of two and 29 children aged 3-14. Apart from Russian citizens, there were several foreigners on board the aircraft, including Ukrainian, Belarusian and French nationals.
Ukrainians have been taking advantage of Russian evacuation flights as Ukraine does not have an embassy in Yemen.
It took Russia's fifth evacuation plane about eight hours to get to Moscow from the Yemeni capital Sanaa with a stopover in Cairo.
Russia has evacuated a total of about 600 people, mostly women and children, from Yemen in the past few days.
Tensions have been on the rise in Yemen over the past weeks, with Shiite Houthi rebels battling troops loyal to Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Houthis have taken control of Sanaa and other cities in Yemen, forcing the Yemeni government to resign in January. Hadi escaped house arrest in February, fled to the southern city of Aden and recalled his resignation. In late March, Hadi left Yemen for Saudi Arabia.
An international coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis since March 26, following Hadi's request for military aid.
