Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The United States (US) asks its citizens who are in Russia to leave the country immediately. Uncle Sam said there was a risk of arbitrary arrest or harassment by law enforcement agencies. The official announcement was released by the Embassy in Moscow.
“US citizens living or traveling in Russia should leave immediately,” the embassy was quoted as saying ReutersTuesday (14/2/2023).
“Increased vigilance because of risk of wrongful detention. Do not travel to Russia,” he added.
It was also stated that the Russian Security Services had arrested several US citizens on trumped-up charges. They were also sentenced to secret trials without credible evidence.
“Russian authorities arbitrarily enforce local laws against US citizen religious workers and have opened questionable criminal investigations into US citizens engaging in religious activities,” he said.
On the other hand, France has also urged its citizens to leave Russia’s ally Belarus. Via its website, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said the push came amid Russian armed attacks on Ukraine and the closure of Belarusian airspace so any travel was officially discouraged.
“The French are advised to leave the country by road, via border crossings with Lithuania, Poland or Latvia without delay,” France said without further elaborating.
Meanwhile, Russia responded by saying it was not the first time US citizens had been asked to leave the country. The last public warning also came in September after Putin ordered a partial mobilization.
“It (the warning) has been sounded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs many times in the last period, so this is nothing new,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Nonetheless, the Federal Security Service (FSB) did say in January that prosecutors had opened a criminal case against a US citizen on suspicion of espionage. This follows the detention of US basketball star Brittney Griner before being released in a prisoner exchange.
(sef/sef)
