Two aircraft of Russia’s low-cost airline Pobeda brought 383 Russian citizens back home from Montenegro on Thursday, a spokesman for Russia’s Embassy in the European country Kirill Kirzha told TASS.

"Just now the second Pobeda airline’s plane took off from Podgorica for Moscow. A total of 383 people traveled to Russia by two flights of the airline. Earlier an S7 flight evacuated 176 people," the diplomat said.

"We thank Montenegro’s authorities, the Ministry of Transport and Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, everything is underway as normal, we are swiftly solving problems in cooperation with Montenegro’s authorities and its operators. We hope that in the future the entire process of evacuating Russian citizens who are willing to come back home will take place as scheduled," the diplomat noted.

Nearly 1,800 Russian tourists were stranded in Montenegro after the country’s authorities introduced measures to suspend flights amid the coronavirus spread. Earlier, Russian diplomats obtained Montenegro’s agreement to organize the return of fellow countrymen by Russian airlines.

On Tuesday, Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot and its subsidiary Pobeda Airlines announced that they were unable to return their passengers to Russia over the lack of permission by Montenegro’s leadership. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Montenegro had given its permission for Russian aircraft to evacuate Russian citizens on condition that they return Montenegro’s nationals back home from Russia. The diplomat stressed that Montenegro had shifted its responsibility for Montenegro’s citizens on Russia.

The number of coronavirus cases in Montenegro has risen from two to ten over the past day. Currently, over 3,500 people are under medical supervision in the country.