On 7 October, 2020 Turkmenistan organized an evacuation flight from Domodedovo Moscow airport for Turkmen nationals stranded in Russia.
According to official reports, in order to fly back to their home country, Turkmen nationals must only have a ticket for a flight operated by Turkmenistan Airlines, which is now valid until the end of 2021.
However, according to Turkmen News, apart from having a valid ticket, Turkmen nationals had to pay a bribe of 75 thousand Rubles (equivalent to about $955), which was coerced by staff of Turkmenistan’s Consulate.
“The flight was scheduled to depart at 11 a.m.At 10:30 a.m.the airport departure board showed that the boarding was сompleted”.
However, the flight departed only at 1:45 p.m.Before the departure, the Consulate staff tried to board additional passengers coercing a bribe of 75 thousand Rubles per ticket”, the news outlet reports.