All Americans remaining in Russia should plan on leaving the country immediately amid fears that dual nationals could be conscripted into fighting against Ukraine, the US has said.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the US embassy in Moscow warned its citizens that they should leave Russia following the Kremlin’s “partial mobilisation” of army reservists last week.
The announcement by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin sparked protests with arrests made and prompted fighting-age men to try to leave the country.
The US said dual nationals were at risk of being ordered to fight in Ukraine and that their status as dual citizens may not be recognised.
“Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ US citizenship, deny their access to US consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service,” the statement read.
It continued by warning that travelling out of Russia was already very limited because of reduced commercial flights and heavily crowded border check points.
“Those residing or travelling in Russia should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain,” the statement released by the embassy added.
More than 1,000 Russians have been arrested since the announcement of a partial mobilisation, and according to reports even prisoners have been ordered to join the country’s war on Ukraine.
Speaking last week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the fact that Russians were leaving their country shows that the war in Ukraine is “unpopular” and that Russians were not willing to be conscripted into fighting Ukraine.
“What Putin is doing — he is not coming from a place of strength,” Ms Jean-Pierre told reporters. “He is coming from a place of weakness.”
Following many unexpected setbacks since its invasion of Ukraine in February, the Kremlin had long avoided ordering a mobilisation to avoid the protests and dissent seen since last week.
Mr Putin’s decision follows recent territorial gains by Ukraine, whose president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “can return the Ukrainian flag to our entire territory. We can do it with the force of arms. But we need time”, in a speech to the UN.
Earlier this month, Russia rejected the idea that it had committed war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Izyum following the discovery of about 450 bodies in mass graves after Russian forces were forced out of the Kharkiv region by Ukrainian forces.
