MOSCOW: Saudi Arabia has evacuated dozens of Russian citizens from Sudan by warships, it was announced on Sunday.

This is according to Ruslan Usmanov, press attache of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Jeddah, in an interview with a correspondent of TASS, Russia’s news agency.

“Russians are not evacuating on their own, they are being taken out by Saudi Arabian warships. They took over the issue, they are taken out of the port of Sudan, then they are brought to the port of Jeddah to the naval base. We meet them there,” the diplomat said.

“At the moment, about 40 Russians have arrived,” he added. “Most of them have already left, some to Russia, some to other countries, depending on who has what destination.”

Russian citizens have been leaving for their homeland, Usmanov clarified, through transit countries including Egypt, the UAE and Qatar.

He said Saudi Arabia has been evacuating citizens from other nations including the US, and those from the EU.

The authorities of the country, he continued, provide the Russian consulate with information on the list of evacuees.

“The Saudi side, in principle, still pays them for two-day hotel accommodation with meals,” Usmanov said. “After that, the citizens of the Russian Federation leave for Russia. If necessary, we accompany them to the airport, solve some issues, but as a rule everything goes smoothly and clearly. There are no problems yet.”

Recently, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed in an interview with Arab News that Moscow is in contact with Riyadh about the evacuation of Russian citizens and diplomats from Sudan.