BREAKING NEWS: United States Has Warned All The Americans To “Immediately” Leave Russia As They Can Face Arrests

Credit: DW

The U.S. State Department on Monday ordered all U.S. citizens in Russia to leave immediately as the war in Ukraine heats up.

“U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately,” the U.S. embassy in Moscow warned. “Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions.”

In a stark message, the department also said, “Do not travel to Russia.”

The embassy warned that its ability to help U.S. citizens in Russia was very limited due to staffing limitations, travel restrictions, and the suspension of consular services.

All Americans there have been warned to find a way out of the country as soon as possible. They are reminded that U.S. debit or credit cards do not work in Russia, and the electronic transfer of funds has become extremely difficult due to sanctions.

“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,” the embassy added.

On Monday, The Kremlin dismissed the warnings by the embassy and pointed out that America made similar calls to leave Russia back in September 2022, shortly after President Vladimir Putin mobilized more Russians to join his ranks 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 said according to Reuters.

U.S. experts were divided on the significance of the warning and its timing. One former Defense Intelligence Agency intel officer for Russian Doctrine & Strategy, Rebekah Koffler, described the alert as “serious.”

She pointed out that the announcement came 10 days ahead of Russia’s Soviet Army Day, also known as Defender of the Fatherland Day. It also came 11 days before the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

“Putin wants to claim to some achievement,” she said. She warned that she believes Russia will launch a “massive assault” within the next week as it looks to gain ground in Ukraine.

“There’s no way for this war to go except up,” Koffler continued.

“Neither side has an exit [strategy],” she said.

She pointed out that both Russia and Ukraine view the war as an existential threat and they both will not concede on the battlefront.

Former CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman argued that the embassy alert was just routine and served as a reminder to Americans of the dangerous situation they could be in if they remain in or traveled to Russia.

“Bottom line is that we’ve issued these warnings in the past,” he told Fox News Digital. “Just because you issued it once, doesn’t mean everybody remembers.

“We don’t make decisions based on calendar dates,” he continued. “I’ve [served] in a lot of embassies overseas. What we do though is we look at the threat and we say, ‘it’s still out there, we’ll remind everybody – public service announcement.'”

The State Department has not made any other warning, as of yet.