Preparations under way to evacuate 50 Russian children from Iraq - commissioner
MOSCOW. June 13 (Interfax) - Fifty Russian children will soon be evacuated from Iraq; the first evacuation plane will arrive in early July, Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Anna Kuznetsova said.
"Documents are being prepared to bring home about 50 children who are currently at government institutions in Iraq. Most of the children are younger than four; they were born outside Russia. Considering the young age of the children, who must sit on adults' laps while traveling by plane, it has been decided to airlift them via two flights," Kuznetsova said in a statement on Thursday.
The first flight could arrive in the first half of July.
In addition, Kuznetsova called for helping children in Syrian regions beyond the government's control, which "prevents them from being evacuated in a standard procedure." This year alone, the children's families residing in Russia asked for assistance in repatriating 225 minors, she said.
Russia brought 57 children back from Iraq last year.