Feb. 2 (UPI) — Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned on Friday that U.S. intelligence agencies are actively seeking Russians to arrest in other countries.
The ministry made the claim in a travel advisory for Russian travelers.
“The U.S. intelligence services continue to actually ‘hunt’ for Russians around the world,” a statement on the Foreign Ministry’s website read. “The number of such cases has already reached four dozen. For only one year in 2017, more than ten Russian citizens were arrested on requests from Washington abroad.”
The travel advisory adds that Russian citizens face a “prejudiced attitude on the part of American ‘justice,'” and that Russians who do not admit guilt face long prison terms.
The statement mentions several examples, including Konstantin Yaroshenko, arrested for alleged drug-smuggling in Liberia, and Victor Bout, accused of gun-running on behalf of rebels in Colombia.
“We strongly recommend that Russian citizens, when planning their trips abroad, carefully weigh all the risks, especially if there are grounds for assuming claims from the American law enforcement agencies. First of all, this refers to visits to countries with extradition treaties with Washington,” the ministry said.
The warning follows a U.S. State Department caution last month to U.S. citizens traveling in Russia, which suggested American travelers “reconsider” due to “terrorism and harassment” — and specifically mentioned northern Caucasus and Crimea as places in Russia to avoid.
