A plane of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations has airlifted to Moscow 18 seriously ill children from Ukraine’s troubled Donbass, the ministry’s press service told Tass.

The patients, the youngest of whom aged less than one-year-old, have different diagnoses, but all of them need highly-qualified aid that cannot be offered at local clinics in the war-torn region.

"Their condition remained stable during the flight," a source said, adding that the plane had all necessary medical equipment for seriously ill passengers and medical specialists on board.