The US on Monday told its citizens to leave Russia immediately due to the war in Ukraine and the risk of arbitrary arrest or harassment by Russian law enforcement agencies.
Russian security services have arrested US citizens on “spurious charges”, singled them out for detention and harassment, denied them fair and transparent treatment, and convicted them in secret trials or without presenting credible evidence, the US embassy in Moscow said in a statement.
“US citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately,” the embassy said.
It added: “Do not travel to Russia.”
It was not the first time US citizens had been asked to leave Russia. The last such public warning was in September after President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilisation for men to fight in Ukraine.
Warnings “have been voiced by the State Department many times in the last period, so this is not a new thing”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Brittney Griner released from Russian penal colony — in pictures
The Federal Security Service said in January that prosecutors had opened a criminal case against a US citizen on suspicion of espionage.
Last December, US basketball star Brittney Griner was released in a prisoner swap, having been sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil — which is banned in Russia — after a judicial process labelled a sham by Washington.
Paul Whelan, a former US Marine, is serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony after being convicted of espionage charges that Washington also says are a sham.
Reuters contributed to this report
