Over 100 refugees arrived in Domodedovo Airport on Thursday aboard a Russian plane delivering humanitarian aid to conflict-torn Syria, a spokesperson for the airport said.
The Emergency Situations Ministry plane landed at Domodedovo in the early hours of Thursday morning, the spokesperson told Itar-Tass, with 104 people on board, 76 of whom were Russian nationals as well as 21 Ukrainians, six Belarussians and one Uzbek.
The passengers, who were rescued from the city of Lakatia, were mostly women and children, the spokesperson said. Their rescue comes roughly two years into a bloody civil conflict between troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebel forces.
Russians officials sent the plane to Syria to deliver over 26 tons of medical supplies and foodstuffs collected by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, the news agency reported.
"We are very grateful to the Russian people! This aid is very important moral support for us. We are happy that we have such a friend and will pray for you," a representative of the Orthodox Church of Syria told the Vesti news channel about the humanitarian aid.
Since the beginning of the year, the emergencies ministry has evacuated 383 people from CIS countries from Syria, according to news reports.
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