U.S. tells citizens: leave Russia immediately
STORY: The United States has told its citizens to leave Russia immediately, citing the ongoing war in Ukraine and a risk of arbitrary arrest or harassment by Russian law enforcement agencies.
The Kremlin said it was not the first time U.S. citizens had been asked to leave Russia.
The last such public warning was in September after President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization.
The U.S. embassy in Moscow said in a statement, quote, "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 Federal Security Service (FSB) said in January that prosecutors had opened a criminal case against a United States citizen on suspicion of espionage.
Last December, U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was released in a prisoner swap. She had been sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil after a judicial process labeled a sham by Washington.
Meanwhile, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony after being convicted of what Washington says are fictitious espionage charges.
