Government Tells US Citizens in Russia To Leave Immediately

(UnitedVoice.com) – Last year, the Russian military suffered many losses on the battlefield of its war on Ukraine, which forced the country to draft more soldiers. It forced at least 200,000 troops to join up. Soon after the draft began, the US Embassy in Russia issued a warning to US citizens that they needed to get out of the country. Now months later, American officials have issued another alert.

On February 12, the embassy issued a Level 4 Travel Alert for Russia, telling American citizens to leave the country. According to the notice, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime may refuse to acknowledge and respect a person’s dual American citizenship. If that were to happen, the embassy is limited in what it can do. Further, the government may not allow the citizens access to the embassy, prevent them from leaving, or force them to fight in the war against Ukraine.

The embassy also noted commercial flights out of Russia are very limited at the moment and often cannot be booked on short notice. Further, American credit and debit cards do not work in the country because of the US sanctions on Russian banks. That has led to reports of cash shortages, meaning citizens might not even be able to access any of their money.

State Department travel advisory: "U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately"https://t.co/zhQH2SRjK6 pic.twitter.com/Ubdj0hSS2r

— Matthew Hay Brown (@matthewhaybrown) February 13, 2023

According to the notice, any Americans who plan to travel to Russia should cancel their trips. The country’s government is allegedly targeting US citizens. They have been harassed, arrested on false charges, and convicted in secret trials without any evidence. Religious workers are also reportedly being targeted. Russians have opened investigations into them seemingly for no reason at all. Aid workers should also avoid traveling to the region.

The embassy warned that if Americans choose to travel against their advice, they can’t rely on the US consulate to be able to get them back home.