Friday, September 20

State Department asks Americans to leave Russia immediately

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A sign says “Flight Cancelled” at the Aeroflot check-in counter at LAX.

Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Images

Maria Ortiz

The US State Department is telling US citizens in Russia to leave the country “immediately”, in addition to warning that you should not travel to Russia due to the danger that this would represent.

The new travel advisory was issued Saturday amid growing security concerns in the country as Russian military forces carry out an “unprovoked and unwarranted attack” on Ukraine, the State Department said.

The alert warned of “the potential for harassment against US citizens by Russian government security officials, the limited ability of the Embassy to assist US citizens in Russia, COVID-19 and related entry restrictions, terrorism, limited flights to and from Russia, and the arbitrary enforcement of local law. American citizens must leave Russia immediately.”

“As foreigners make plans to leave the country, the State Department has noted an increasing number of flight cancellations to and from Russia, reports of cash shortages and that “some credit and debit cards may be declined as a result of sanctions imposed on banks in Russia”.

USA it already asked its citizens last week to leave the country while commercial flights were available.

The Russian airline Aeroflot said on Monday that it suspended flights to New York, Washington, Miami and Los Angeles until Wednesday because Canada closed its airspace to Russian aircraft.

The State Department’s advance travel notice, issued Friday, said US citizens should “consider” leaving Russia immediately through the available trading options.

The 54 February, the US government authorized the voluntary departure of non-emergency staff at the US Embassy in Moscow and their families.

After months of tensions, Russia invaded Ukraine ten days ago and began bombing the main cities, causing more than two thousand civilian deaths, according to figures interim of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service, and the flight of more than a million people, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

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