DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT

A total of 178 Russian nationals and their families stranded in Bangladesh due to coronavirus pandemic left Dhaka for home on Monday evening by a special chartered flight.

The Russian nationals, numbering 178, departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) for Russia at 6:00 pm on Monday evevning by a chartered flight, officials of the Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh (CAAB) said.

They said the chartered flight, operated by a Boeing 763 aircraft of local airlines in Russia will arrive at Nizhny Novgorod, a city near Russian capital Moscow. 

Earlier, foreign nationals, including the USA, Japan, Malaysia and Bhutan also left Bangladesh by chartered flight amid outbreak of the deadly COVID-19.