Russia’s Foreign Ministry has warned citizens traveling abroad that they risk arrest on the request of U.S. intelligence services, who are ’hunting’ for Russians.
Last month, the U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens traveling to Russia to “reconsider travel” due to “terrorism and harassment.”
“Despite our calls to improve cooperation [...] American intelligence services are virtually ‘hunting’ for Russians all over the world,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on its website on Thursday.
The Foreign Ministry said that more than 40 Russian citizens have been arrested on U.S. orders in total, including 10 in the past year.
The statement mentions Konstantin Yaroshenko, arrested for an alleged drug-smuggling plot, and Victor Bout, accused of gun-running for the FARC armed group in Colombia.
“After being extradited to the U.S., Russian citizens are faced with discriminatory treatment at the hands of American ‘justice,’” the statement says.
“Using various methods, including direct threats, they are pressured to admit their guilt, despite the fictitiousness of the charges, and when they refuse they are given huge prison sentences.”
