Originally published at: U.S. tells citizens to get out of Russia immediately | Boing Boing
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Glenn Greenwald better go while he still can.
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I’d ask who in the world would choose now to play tourist in Russia, but then I remember my late uncle.
For some people, the risk is the point.
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This is just the State Department doing part of its job, so I can understand why they are doing it; but I have to wonder who is still left who would listen to anything they’d say on the matter.
I’d have thought that hitting the “we are at war with NATO and everyone will die in blood and nuclear fire for the motherland!” step would have cancelled most vacations.
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Yep. There are probably tourists in the conflict zone in Ukraine too.
I can see American fascists and white supremacists continuing to make pilgrimages to Russia in support of the Putin regime. They may not think they’re at risk but if Putin gets desperate and takes one of them hostage it will be pretty funny.
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I’ve read that patriotic Russian hipsters are visiting Mariupol to savour the a e s t h e t i c ruins.
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The US State Dept. advisory:
Level TUKDO achieved.
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You’re going to have a hard time finding transportation by now. And they won’t let you take your assets out with you. Say goodbye to any retirement accounts you may have set up.
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“U.S. citizens should note that U.S. credit and debit cards no longer work in Russia, and options to electronically transfer funds from the United States are extremely limited due to sanctions imposed on Russian banks. There are reports of cash shortages within Russia.”
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I’ve got a couple friends who are historians of Russia who are over there. Definitely non-tourists.
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Maybe suggest to them to GTFO before they become history themselves.
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I imagine there are a lot of journalists and other professionals in Russia for non-tourism-based reasons too.
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Not a good place for any Westerner interested in digging up facts and truths right now. The same goes for journalists. I don’t think any American there except for diplomatic staff can assume they’re safe at the moment.
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It’s a long-standing conundrum that the places which are most hostile to independent journalism tend to be the places where independent journalism is needed most of all.
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Do they need to be in Russia to do research? If they’re working on anything sensitive they should leave because they won’t be allowed into the archives anyway, and that is the least bad thing that could happen to them.
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But I’ve had my vacation planned for two years, I’m not letting Biden tell me where I can’t go.
Damn woke agenda trying to protect me from Russian prisons and balloons. It’s bad enough they forced me to listen to 16 different national anthems and now this.
Nope, I’ll show them, and they had better come get me when I’m taken hostage.
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Except for basket-case dictatorships like North Korea, there are usually quasi-diplomatic arrangements that allow independent foreign press bureaus to report from authoritarian countries. The same goes for academic exchanges.
However, given the invasion of Ukraine and the duress the Putin regime has put itself under, I think all such agreements are now in doubt there. That’s what this State Dept notice is effectively saying (well, that and the implication that the U.S. won’t bend over backwards to repatriate someone if the worst happens).
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For certain values of “reporting” anyway.
It’s always been dangerous to tell the stories that the authorities in such places don’t want to be told.
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There’s a history of such alerts if someone would like to figure out the changes. Obviously if you are in russia, or are planning to go there, only the latest is relevant.
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The arrangements often allow a surprising amount of leeway. The basic arrangement for journalists and academics usually amounts to researching and reporting as one wants and publishing the results back home, but no direct interference in local matters and no publication in-country.
These governments are generally more concerned about controlling their own citizens and domestic narratives than they are about what foreigners think of them. They also want to put up the pretense of openness that’s expected of members of the international community.
All that goes out the window when the regime feels insecure or goes to war, though. Then the expulsions start, sometimes followed by hostage-taking.
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