Jakarta. A Garuda Indonesia plane carrying 80 Indonesian citizens and three foreigners who escaped war-torn Ukraine landed at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday evening. 

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi came to the airport to welcome them in person.

The three foreigners are family members of the returnees, Retno said in a statement.

They escaped the ongoing Russian invasion from several cities in Ukraine and went to neighboring Romania, Moldova, and Poland.

The evacuation process was conducted in stages since February 27 before they gathered in Bucharest on Thursday for the 17-hour flight to Jakarta.

“It wasn’t an easy journey by those Indonesian citizens who had to go through several checkpoints when the curfew was in effect across Ukraine,” Retno said.

Indonesia is among 141 countries that voted for a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.