Vietnam Airlines, working with relevant Vietnamese agencies and the Vietnamese Embassies in Russia and Belarus, brought back 280 Vietnamese citizens on July 16 and 17 who had been left stranded in the two countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The majority of passengers onboard the flight were people under 18, pregnant women, those suffering from illnesses, students who had completed their academic year but were unable to remain due to expired visas or the closure of their accommodation, along with workers left stranded in Russia and Belarus.  

Due to facing complicated developments caused by the recent epidemic with limited international travel, the Vietnamese Embassies in Russia and Belarus were active in collaborating with functional agencies to prepare necessary procedures and support citizens in their travel from other locations to Moscow and Minsk.    

The two embassies therefore dispatched officials to the airports in an effort to assist citizens with all necessary steps before boarding the flight.

A range of strict preventive measures were enforced throughout the duration of the journey. In addition, after landing at Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh, all crew members and passengers had their body temperature checked and were immediately placed into quarantine in line with regulations.

Following instructions from Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnamese agencies, Vietnamese representative agencies abroad, and domestic airlines will continue to conduct more flights to bring home Vietnamese citizens from abroad.