Iranian flight bringing home citizens stranded in Ukraine

Iran has sent an airplane to Poland to bring back the nationals, mostly students, that have traveled from Ukraine whose airspace has been closed to civilian flights amid a war with Russia.

"The first special flight to transfer compatriots from Poland to our country will take off a few hours later. So far, 300 students have been settled in Warsaw alone," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a tweet early Tuesday.

"Extensive efforts are being made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our embassies in Ukraine and neighboring countries to return our compatriots to the country with the least difficulty," he added. 

Earlier, national flag carrier Iran Air said an Airbus A330 left Tehran for Warsaw to bring back Iranians, mostly students who had got stuck in Ukraine after the breakout of the conflict on Thursday.

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said the country's embassy in Kiev remains open as it "expressed regret over certain hype on social networks".

Some 80,000 international students study in Ukraine, according to data from Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science. The largest number comes from India, followed by Morocco, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Nigeria.

On social media, students and their supporters have asked their home governments to charter planes out of the country, sharing locations where students were stranded, and offering advice about where to find shelter. Users have also circulated emergency contact numbers for stranded students from various countries, Press TV reported.

ME