BREAKING NEWS

Special flight brings home 103 Russians evacuated from Gaza

A special aircraft brought home to Moscow 103 Russian nationals evacuated from Gaza, Russia's emergencies ministry said early on Friday.

In a post on Telegram, the ministry said the group flew home aboard a chartered Ilyushin-76 aircraft.

The post said 101 Russian nationals had been taken from Gaza to Egypt in the past 24 hours, bringing to more than 750 the total number of Russian evacuees. More than 650 had been flown to Russia, including more than 300 children.

The Kremlin on Wednesday hailed a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, going into effect on Friday, as the "first good news for a long time" in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. It said humanitarian pauses were the only way to build efforts for a sustainable settlement.