The State Service for Emergency Situations of Ukraine jointly with the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine arranged the logistics of 26 people evacuated from Syria, including 12 children, from Boryspil Airport (Kyiv) on Friday, December 28, in the evening.

According to the State Emergencies Service, 18 people were transported to bus and railway stations by the state service's vehicles.

The information policy department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported earlier that a total of 26 people were expected to arrive at Boryspil Airport from Beirut at around 1900 Kyiv time on December 28 on a flight by the Ukrainian-Mediterranean Airlines (UM Air) as a part of the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from Syria.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported that since the beginning of 2012 due to the escalation of the conflict in Syria, Ukraine has evacuated 361 citizens, including the current stage of evacuation. The International Organization for Migration helped return home another 139 Ukrainians. Kyiv also helped to evacuate 44 foreigners, including 17 Poles, seven citizens of Belarus and 20 citizens of Syria, who are members of the families of Ukrainian citizens, to leave the country.

In addition, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry helped evacuate 83 Ukrainians from the Gaza Strip.