A repatriation flight carrying 287 Vietnamese people from Ukraine landed safely in Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport on Tuesday morning.
Vietnamese people return from Ukraine on March 8
The flight which was operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines was the first repatriation flight the government has conducted to bring home Vietnamese evacuees from Bucharest (Romania).
The evacuees including many children were warmly welcomed by their relatives and friends at the airport.
Pham Quang Son, 61, came to pick up his children and grandchildren who boarded this flight. Son said that his family has lived in Odessa City in Ukraine for many years. He returned to Hanoi two years ago but had not been able to fly back to Ukraine due to the pandemic.
Pham Quang Son came to pick up his children and grandchildren at the airport
"I could not imagine we would have to flee Ukraine someday," he said. "The war was so sudden and we were very worried. But now I'm happy that they are brought home safely today.”
Nguyen Thi Nhan in Thanh Xuan District arrived at the airport to pick up her husband and daughter who had run a shop in Ukraine since 2004.
"When the war occurred, my husband and daughter had to leave their place and could only carry some clothes with them," Nhan said. "They've lost everything in the war there. But luckily they returned home safely and we were reunited."
After this flight, Bamboo Airways is expected to repatriate 270 evacuees from Warsaw (Poland) on March 10.
Vietnam is carrying out a repatriation campaign for its citizens stranded in war zones in Ukraine following an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began nearly two weeks ago.
So far half of approximately 7,000 Vietnamese nationals residing, working and studying in Ukraine have been evacuated to neighbouring countries such as Romania, Poland, Moldova and Hungary to wait for repatriation flights or to move on to a third country.
