(Moscow) The United States Embassy in Moscow released a warning on Sunday evening of the risk of attacks in public places in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and on the Ukrainian border amid growing tensions around the ‘Ukraine.
Posted at 5:22 p.m.
“According to press reports, there are threats of attacks in shopping malls, train and metro stations, and other public places in major urban areas,” the embassy said in a statement. which does not cite specific press articles.
The message from the embassy to its nationals indicates that the risk exists in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, “as well as in areas where tension is high along the Russian border with Ukraine”.
Western countries have been warning for weeks against Russia’s intention to attack the neighboring country which was part of its sphere of influence before the collapse of the communist bloc in 1991, accusing Russia of massaging dozens of thousands of men at the border.
The US Embassy also advises its nationals in Russia to “avoid crowds” and make “arrangements to evacuate without relying on US government assistance”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized the embassy’s intervention on social media, questioning compliance with protocol and “what to do with that?” “.
Local authorities around Russia’s border with Ukraine have declared a state of emergency in recent days due to the arrival of evacuees from separatist-held Ukrainian territories.
More than 50,000 people have flown into Russia since separatist leaders in Donetsk and Lugansk, the two rebel territories, urged women and children to leave on Friday amid rising tensions, according to the Emergencies Ministry.
Ukraine has been fighting pro-Russian separatists since 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea, and more than 14,000 people have since died in the hostilities.