TOMSK, May 20 – RIA Tomsk. About 280 Tomsk families registered on the website of the portal of public services of the Russian Federation in anticipation of assistance in organizing their return to Russia from abroad; these Tomsk citizens are in 54 countries and cannot leave because of closed borders, the press service of the regional administration said on Wednesday.
Earlier, federal media reported that most passenger flights around the world were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many states closed their borders for exit and entry, so Russia did it on March 30.
Citizens of the Russian Federation who wish to return to their homeland are registered on the website of the portal of public services. Some categories of registered people are entitled to financial assistance (2,4 thousand rubles per day per person). Citizens are also included in passenger lists for organizing export flights. Since the start of the campaign to take Russians to their homeland, 234 people have returned to the Tomsk region, including 144 from Thailand. All arrivals from abroad must stay at the observational center for 2 weeks.
"To date, 364 residents of the Tomsk region (279 families) who wish to return to their homeland are registered on the public services website. Residents of the region who have requested assistance to leave foreign countries are located in 54 countries", - is said in the statement.
It is specified that most of all - 45 people (27 families) - are in Thailand. 26 people are expected to leave in the USA and Kazakhstan, 25 in Armenia, 21 in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, 12 in Turkey", - the report says.
The list of countries from which Tomsk citizens are expected to depart includes such remote countries as South Africa, Colombia, Argentina, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, British Indian Ocean Territory, Australia, New Zealand and others.
"Information about Russians who want to return and have already arrived at home is updated almost daily. Registration of Russians abroad has been ongoing for the second month, however, the number of citizens in the registry is increasing, new names appear in it every day", - the head of the department of international and regional relations of the administration of the Tomsk region Alexei Stukanov is quoted in the message.