Nearly All Russians Evacuated From Khartoum Conflict Zone to Russian Embassy

DOHA (Sputnik) - Almost all Russians who had been in the conflict areas in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum have now been evacuated to the Russian Embassy, Russian Ambassador to Sudan Andrey Chernovol told Sputnik.

"The fact is that the hostilities started at the same time everywhere and quite actively, and such serious hostilities. We had people in about six or seven ‘hot spots,’ fortunately, we managed to get people out of there, except for the Russian woman with a child in the Nubian Metropolis building," Chernovol said.

"This is the last location where, apart from the embassy, ​​our citizens remain, in a dangerous situation. Everyone who was in the conflict zone was taken to the embassy," Chernovol added.

He specified that the Russian embassy maintains contact with Russian citizens who remain at locations far from the line of contact.

"Everyone was advised not to go outside," the Russian ambassador told Sputnik.

The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group announced on Twitter on Friday its readiness to partially open airports in order to allow for the evacuation of foreign citizens from Sudan.

Earlier, Chernovol told Sputnik that a total of 140 people have confirmed to the Russian Embassy their desire to evacuate from Sudan, and the list is growing due to a rising number of requests from citizens of foreign countries.

The RSF added that they were fully prepared for cooperation in what concerned the creation of opportunities for representatives of foreign diasporas and diplomatic missions to safely leave Sudan.

Last Saturday, violent clashes between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the RSF broke out, with the epicenter located in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, has issued a decree disbanding the RSF.

On Friday, Sudan’s armed forces said they had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire on humanitarian grounds starting from 6:00 a.m. local time (04:00 GMT) and expressed hope that the RSF would comply with the truce.