HANDOUT – In this photo released by the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry, passengers are waiting to board Russian military cargo planes. According to the Ministry of Defense, Russia has flown around 200 people from Afghanistan again. Photo: Uncredited / Rusian Defense Ministry Press Service / AP / dpa – ATTENTION: Only for editorial use and only with full mention of the above credits
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Among them are Russians, Kyrgyz people and Afghan students enrolled at Russian universities, the Ministry of Defense announced in Moscow on Saturday. The three Ilyushin Il-76 planes were later to land at the Chkalovsky military airport in the Moscow region.
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According to its own statements, the Russian military has flown 770 people from Afghanistan since the end of August. As in previous evacuation flights, the crew had humanitarian cargo on board on the way there, as it was said.
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Since the militant Islamist Taliban came to power, the situation has been catastrophic for many people in Afghanistan. Most of the aid to the country was suspended and the country’s central bank reserves were frozen. The previously ailing economy has since been in free fall. The organization Save the Children expects 14 million children to go hungry this winter. According to earlier data from the UN, more than half of the population does not have enough to eat.
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