Three aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Aerospace Forces of Russia took off from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow to evacuate more than 380 people from Afghanistan, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
"On November 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu to arrange the evacuation of more than 380 citizens of the Russian Federation, CSTO member states (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia), Ukraine and Afghanistan from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan by military transport aircraft from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. <...> To carry out the evacuation, an aviation group of three military transport aircraft was created, which took off from the Chkalovsky airfield in the shortest amount of time possible," the ministry said.
According to the military department, the Il-76 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces also delivered more than 36 tons of humanitarian cargo to Afghanistan.
"There are medical and nursing brigades of military doctors on board each Russian aircraft to provide necessary medical assistance and support to citizens of Russia and other countries during the evacuation," representatives for the Ministry of Defence said.
The state of affairs in Afghanistan aggravated in May 2021 after the United States started withdrawing its troops from the country. Members of the Taliban* (the organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities) launched an offensive on the Afghanistan's major cities and entered Kabul on August 15, announcing the end of the war.
*terrorist group, banned in Russia