A second Russian Emergency Situations Ministry plane arrived in Moscow from Yemen on Monday with another 27 Russian and CIS citizens on board, bringing the total number evacuated to 175.
“At 14:33 [Moscow time, 10:33 GMT] an Il-76 aircraft landed at Domodedovo Airport. Twenty-seven people came on it from Sanaa [the capital of Yemen] to Moscow,” an Emergencies Ministry spokesman said, adding that they were accompanied by a psychologist and specialist medical team.
The first evacuation flight arrived on Monday morning with 148 people on board. There were 59 children among the evacuees.
Anti-government protests against Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years, have been taking place for nearly five months. The protests have recently escalated to frequent gun battles between Saleh loyalists and hundreds of members of Yemeni opposition tribal groups.
Several hundred people have reportedly been killed in Yemen since February, pushing the country to the brink of a civil war.
Russia has already recalled 14 diplomats and their families from its embassy in Sanaa and general consulate in Aden.
There are about 800 Russians remaining in Yemen.
MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti)