Jordan sends planes to Romania to evacuate citizens fleeing Ukraine

Two Jordanian military planes left Amman for Romania on Tuesday to bring back 215 of the kingdom's citizens who fled the conflict in Ukraine.

"Two military planes took off to Romania to evacuate Jordanian nationals who crossed the border from Ukraine after the increase in tensions and military actions there,” Jordan's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the planes were sent "under directions" from King Abdullah II, and announced that 415 of its citizens had made it out of Ukraine during the past few days.

Hundreds of Jordanians living in Ukraine have fled the country into Romania, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary since the Russian invasion began last week.

Several thousand Arabs, many of them students, are trying to escape Ukraine.