This is according to Ruslan Usmanov, press attache of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Jeddah, in an interview with a correspondent of TASS, Russia’s news agency.
“Russians are not evacuating on their own, they are being taken out by Saudi Arabian warships. They took over the issue, they are taken out of the port of Sudan, then they are brought to the port of Jeddah to the naval base. We meet them there,” the diplomat said.
“At the moment, about 40 Russians have arrived,” he added. “Most of them have already left, some to Russia, some to other countries, depending on who has what destination.”
Russian citizens have been leaving for their homeland, Usmanov clarified, through transit countries including Egypt, the UAE and Qatar.
He said Saudi Arabia has been evacuating citizens from other nations including the US, and those from the EU.
The authorities of the country, he continued, provide the Russian consulate with information on the list of evacuees.
“The Saudi side, in principle, still pays them for two-day hotel accommodation with meals,” Usmanov said. “After that, the citizens of the Russian Federation leave for Russia. If necessary, we accompany them to the airport, solve some issues, but as a rule everything goes smoothly and clearly. There are no problems yet.”
Recently, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed in an interview with Arab News that Moscow is in contact with Riyadh about the evacuation of Russian citizens and diplomats from Sudan.
The UK is laying on an extra evacuation flight on Monday to rescue more of its citizens from war-torn Sudan, as the total number already airlifted topped 2,000.
The final Royal Air Force (RAF) flight using the Wadi Saeedna airfield north of Khartoum left late Saturday, four hours behind schedule.
The government said the additional flight on Monday would fly from Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where Britain has opened a consular office to help people who were seeking to travel by ship to Saudi Arabia.
“The UK has now airlifted over 2,100 people to safety from Sudan,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.
“Evacuation flights have ended from Wadi Saeedna but our rescue efforts continue from Port Sudan,” he added.
“We continue to do everything in our power to secure a long-term cease-fire, a stable transition to civilian rule and an end (to) the violence in Sudan.”
One Turkish aircraft was shot at in Sudan last week, Transport Secretary Mark Harper told Sky News earlier Sunday, “demonstrating that that evacuation was not without risk, and we therefore can’t stay there (Wadi Saeedna) indefinitely.”
Some 2,000 Britons in Sudan had signed on to a Foreign Office list, and anyone eligible was given until early Saturday to reach the airfield for processing and boarding of the final flights.
Britons and their dependants who have gathered by the Red Sea had until 1000 GMT on Monday to reach the UK processing center at Port Sudan International Airport, the Foreign Office said.
HMS Lancaster, a Royal Navy frigate, is also on hand at Port Sudan to help in any seaborne evacuation, according to the defense ministry.
After strong criticism at home, the government late Friday allowed Sudanese doctors working in Britain’s crisis-wracked National Health Service to join the flights.
Abdulrahman Babiker, a doctor at a hospital in England’s northern city of Manchester, was one of those initially refused a place before he was allowed to join an RAF flight to Cyprus.
“I am happy that I am finally in a safe place, away from a war and on my way back to the UK,” Babiker told the BBC.
“At the same time I feel down that my family — my dad, mum, brother and sister — are still endangered by this deadly fighting in my country,” Babiker added.
“I am thinking about them now and trying to work out what I can do to help them escape the danger zone.”
Foreign ambassadors in Riyadh extended their messages of gratitude and appreciation to Saudi Arabia for its efforts in evacuating foreign nationals from Sudan.
US Ambassador to the Kingdom Michael Ratney told Arab News: “I reiterate President Biden’s message and thank Saudi Arabia and our Saudi friends and partners for their assistance in the operation to evacuate US government personnel from Khartoum, for assisting with the evacuation of Americans from Sudan and for welcoming them in Jeddah.
“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens overseas,”Ratney added.
On April 22, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the start of the arrangement for the evacuation of Saudi citizens and foreign nationals out of Sudan carried out by the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.
The same day, the Kingdom announced the arrival of 91 Saudi citizens and 66 evacuees from foreign countries including Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada, and Burkina Faso.
Since then the Kingdom has expanded its efforts further to evacuate 4,879 people from 80 nationalities including Australia, India, the US, Serbia, Poland, and Germany.
“We are very grateful to the Saudi authorities and people, particularly those with whom our consular officials have been working closely in Jeddah, and to our friends at the Foreign Ministry. The collaboration and cooperation has been great," Australian Ambassador to the Kingdom Mark Donovan told Arab News.
“It is always good to see outstanding Saudi hospitality and the Australians arriving in Jeddah have certainly been treated to that,” Donovan added.
The Kingdom has aided in evacuating 25 Australian citizens with more expected.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia carried out its largest evacuation from Sudan with a ship carrying 20 Saudi citizens and 1,866 nationals from different countries into Jeddah.
Indonesian Ambassador to the Kingdom Abdulaziz Ahmad extended his gratitude to Saudi Arabia and said: “Protection of Indonesian citizens is a priority for the government and Indonesian representatives in Saudi Arabia. We thank the Kingdom for facilitating the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Sudan. This is proof of the very good relationship and cooperation between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.”
The ambassador shared with Arab News that on April 26 that 557 Indonesian citizens had been evacuated from Sudan using the MV Amanah Ship provided by the government of Saudi Arabia.
When the citizens of his country arrived at Jeddah, the ambassador welcomed them to the Kingdom with flowers in hand.
The evacuation of the first wave of Indonesian citizens from Sudan consisted of 322 male citizens, 199 women, and 36 children.
In Jeddah, the Kingdom is working closely with multiple embassies and consulates in order to assist evacuees in accommodation and booking their flights back to their home countries.
