Russia sends plane to evacuate citizens from Middle East

Russia sent an airliner to Jordan today to begin evacuating citizens from areas of the Middle East affected by the growing conflict, an emergency official said.

The flight came a day after Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was preparing to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon, and the Emergency Situations Ministry said the first plane would evacuate 74 citizens from Russia and other ex-Soviet nations, mostly women and children, from Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Yerashova said the flight left this morning, but she had no other information.

The RIA-Novosti news agency said the first plane would evacuate citizens living in the Palestinian territories who would likely travel to Jordan by bus.