Flight Carrying 174 Egyptians Land in Cairo from Ukraine via Poland

On Monday, the Cairo International Airport received an Air Cairo plane carrying 174 Egyptian nationals from Poland after they fled crisis-hit Ukraine.

Their return comes in accordance with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s directives to repatriate Egyptians who fled Ukraine to neighboring countries in the wake of the war, state news agency MENA reported.

Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, hundreds of Egyptian expats have entered the neighbouring countries of Romania, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland, and the Egyptian authorities are now coordinating their return, launching an air bridge for the mission.

Over the past week, Egypt has repatriated 177 nationals from Poland, 175 students from Romania, and 30 expats from Hungary, most of whom are students.

Egypt is set to send an aircraft in the coming days to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava to repatriate nationals who crossed Ukraine's borders, the Egyptian embassy in Kyiv announced on Sunday.

Prior to the Russian invasion on 24 February, the number of Egyptians in Ukraine stood at around 6,000, including 3,000 students studying at the country's universities, especially in medicine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced more than 1 million Ukrainians and thousands of nationals of various countries to flee.