The error message at the website for the U.S. embassy in Russia on Thursday after issuing a warning about a potential terror attack. Screenshot: U.S. State Department
The U.S. embassy in Russia issued a warning on Thursday that Americans should avoid large gatherings in Moscow for the next 48 hours. The embassy said it was over a potential “terrorist threat” in the city, but didn’t elaborate. And now the embassy’s website appears to be down.
“The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours,” the alert reads, which was also made on X by the U.S. State Department.
“As a reminder, our Travel Advisory for Russia is Level 4 - Do Not Travel,” the alert continued.
It’s not immediately clear if the embassy website was down because it was flooded with too many people trying to access the site all at once, given the interest in the warning. But that seems like a logical assumption. The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed on Thursday evening.
The
Russian
government
announced
early
Thursday
that
it
had
killed
Islamic
State
militants
who
were
planning
a
terrorist
attack
on
a
Moscow
synagogue,
according
to
the
English-language
Moscow
Times.
It’s
not
clear
if
that
operation
is
related
to
the
U.S.
State
Department’s
warning.
The governments of the U.S. and Russia have had extremely frosty relations in recent years, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The war has caused hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides and there’s no end to the bloodshed in sight. The U.S. supports Ukraine with weapons, financial assistance, and intelligence sharing, though American support has waned among Republicans who don’t want to contribute money or guns anymore.
Russia’s
state
news
agency
TASS
reported
on
Thursday
that
U.S.
exports
to
Russia
totaled
just
$30
million
in
January,
the
lowest
since
1992
shortly
after
the
fall
of
the
Soviet
Union.
Comments