As the war in Ukraine approaches the one-year mark, the U.S. State Department issued an order for American citizens to leave Russia.
The Monday order comes as Ukraine is asking European nations for planes and long-range missiles, and there are mounting fears of random arrests of U.S. citizens by Russian authorities.
A statement from the U.S. embassy in Moscow read: “U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately. Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions.”
The ominous message also warned: “Do not travel to Russia.”
The embassy warned that services to aid Americans in Russia — should there be problems — are becoming increasingly limited. Some reasons for the decreased ability to assist include limited staffing, travel limitations and the suspension of consular services.
Leaving the country is proving difficult for many as financial sanctions imposed by the west resulted in U.S. debit and credit cards becoming inoperable in Russia. The electronic transfer of funds is also becoming increasingly difficult.
The U.S. agency noted that Russian authorities are currently detaining Americans — holding them on false charges. The embassy statement noted:
“Russian security services have arrested U.S. citizens on spurious charges, singled out U.S. citizens in Russia for detention and harassment, denied them fair and transparent treatment, and convicted them in secret trials or without presenting credible evidence.”
On Monday, the Kremlin downplayed America’s warning, noting the U.S. State Department issued a similar warning in September. Reuters reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:
“[Warnings] have been voiced by the State Department many times in the last period, so this is not a new thing.”
Fox News reported that Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence Agency intel officer for Russian Doctrine & Strategy, described the embassy’s alert as “serious.” Koffler speculated:
“Putin wants to claim to some achievement” in advance of a coming national holiday and will likely launch a “massive assault” within the next week.
“There’s no way for this war to go except up,” warned Koffler. “Neither side has an exit [strategy],” she said, noting that neither Ukraine nor Russia will concede on the battlefront.
Former CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman said, “There’s a big war going on and…U.S. persons are at risk. [The warning is a way to] serve our citizens and let them know [Russia] is a dangerous place.”
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