US government issues new urgent warning about Russia travel | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 set off a brutal war that is now nearing its fourth year, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine remain at the U.S. State Department’s level four “do not travel” advisory — the latter because of the continued fighting and active war zones and Belarus as a country that has collaborated with Russian President Vladimir Putin in allowing troops to enter Ukraine through its territory.

The Russian Federation has been under the level four travel warning for more than a decade due to poor diplomatic relations with the U.S. and periodic arbitrary detention of U.S. citizens for political purposes over the decades.

Without changing the advisory level, the State Department tweaked its travel advisory for Russia on Dec. 29 to clarify the “danger associated with the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine” and “risk of harassment or wrongful detention by Russian security officials.”

“U.S. citizens in Russia should leave immediately”: Travel advisory for Russia

While the main U.S. embassy in Moscow remains open, consulates in other cities have closed with the start of the war and significant reductions in diplomatic staff.

“U.S. citizens in Russia should leave immediately,” the travel advisory for the country states. “The U.S. government has limited ability to help U.S. citizens in Russia, especially outside of Moscow. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has reduced its staff.”

The longer advisory goes on to provide information specific to those already in the country, such as the fact that the Russian government will not recognize a second citizenship to those who either have or have claim to Russian citizenship. The embassy also has “limited ability to assist in the case of a detention” while there is “no guarantee that the Russian government will grant the U.S. Embassy consular access to detained U.S. citizens.”

Since 2022, most major Western airlines have also not operated direct flights to Russia which means that anyone trying to exit the country will likely have to do so out of a third country.

Russia has been under a level four travel advisory for decades.

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“There are few commercial air travel options available”: State Department

“There are few commercial air travel options available,” the advisory writes further. “It may not be easy to book flights on short notice.”

Justifying the invasion with false claims of historic right to Ukrainian territory, the Russian government has previously responded to Western sanctions with similar travel advisories about the “dangers” of traveling to the United States and European countries.

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The most recent travel advisory issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry in October mentions what it classifies as the “vicious practices” of U.S. law enforcement in several cases in which Russian women were separated from their children when trying to enter the U.S. amid lack of legal status.

“Russian officials often question and threaten U.S. citizens without reason,” the U.S. advisory writes further in turn. “Russian security services have arrested U.S. citizens on false charges. They have denied them fair treatment and convicted them without credible evidence. Russian authorities have opened questionable investigations against U.S. citizens for their religious activities.”