MOSCOW, April 15 (RAPSI) – Children's ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova has helped a minor from Russia’s Novosibirsk Region to return to her home country by a flight carrying repatriated Russian citizens from New York to Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, the commissioner’s press-service informs on Wednesday.

Earlier, Kuznetsova turned to Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev urging him to assist the girl, who found herself in dire straits in the U.S., where she went to take a student course.

The Russian Child Rights Commissioner was informed by her regional colleague from Novosibirsk that the minor planned to leave the U.S. for Russia yet on March 30; however, she was stranded because of the suspension of regular flights. The girl filled in a required form on the official Russian website providing state services to citizens and was put on the list of Russians wishing to leave the U.S.; however, the special flight she was to be put on was cancelled. The life and health of the minor were jeopardized if she stayed in the U.S. amid the pandemic, the press-service statement reads.

On Kuznetsova’s request, Aeroflot put the girl on the nearest flight to Russia; in St. Petersburg she was met by her parents, who arrived there from Novosibirsk.

The child ombudsman expresses her hope that all the passengers, who arrived to Russia by this flight, are in good health; nevertheless, every one of them, including the girl from Novosibirsk, is to undergo quarantine measures and stay under observation, the statement reads.

At the same time, Kuznetsova notes, there is the question of how many other Russian schoolchildren may find themselves in the same situation notwithstanding the measures undertaken by Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Transport Ministry, and other governmental structures, who established call centers, timely disseminated information about various ways to return to the homeland.

We see, she observes, that the respective work is carried on ceaselessly; new information about those wishing to return is being received, like the case of Russian schoolchildren stranded in the U.S. The ombudsman’s office will continue cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and other colleagues as to settling these situations, the statement quotes Kuznetsova as saying.