Can Americans Travel To Russia?

While Russia advances its aggression in Ukraine, relations between the United States and Russia have significantly worsened. Thus, the movement of people between the two countries has become very difficult, if not impossible. Is it possible for an American citizen to travel to Russia at the moment? The short answer is technically yes, but it comes with major caveats and risks that make most travel inadvisable at this time.

It is important to note that the United States has taken several actions against Russia since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine; in March 2022 Biden restricted Russian flights in the United States. Russia retaliated by banning airlines of 36 countries including the US from using Russian airspace. This means, effectively, that there are no direct flight connections from Russia to the US today Although a few options of indirect routing, through Turkey and UAE for instance, still remain, they are much more expensive taking into consideration not only the ticket fares but also the associated risks.

The U.S. State Department put out a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” alert for Russia on April 8th, 2022, and recommended that all American citizens leave via the only available means. They recommended that US citizens should avoid traveling to Russia and those in Russia should leave as soon as possible while there is still options for commercial transport available.

The State Department warning highlights several major risks for Americans in Russia

• The Embassy is not very effective in providing help to American citizens, particularly in regions beyond Moscow.
• There is escalating reports of harassment and detention especially of foreigners including US citizens. Authorities have selectively applied laws prohibiting “discrediting the Russian armed forces” which entail possible imprisonment.
• Russia might not accept the idea of dual citizenship for certain individuals, deny them any help from the U.S. consulate or embassy, and force them to join the armed forces.
• The opportunities for the money transfer into Russia are virtually nonexistent because of sanctions implemented by the West. Some of the biggest credit cards and online payment services are currently not accepted there.
• It is going to become even tougher and costly to charter a commercial flight from Russia in the future as the options are scarce at the moment.

However, despite these quite significant and increasing threats, the Russian government has not yet officially closed the airspace, ground, and sea borders to U.S. citizens’ entry into Russia. Thus, entering Russia does not infringe upon any laws present in Russian territory at the moment.

However, the State Department warning maps out that the Americans in effect travel to Russia at their own peril. Although travel is not prohibited and is legal, it is accompanied by extraordinary and unparalleled risks of detainment, harassment, and the possible interruption of travel out of the targeted nation.

Russia’s land borders have also transformed into conflict-prone territories in some instances as well. Some countries are either limiting or denying entry to Americans who try to cross the border from Russia by car.

It is probable that in the near future the U.S. government will be unable to offer any sort of emergency assistance to its citizens in Russia. If you have some important family or business in Russia, it is extremely dangerous to travel there at this stage of tension, as the risk is very high. Look for changes in the travel advisories more often.

Still, the Russian government could decide to formally blacklist U.S. tourists and/or continue to reduce the available commercial exits from the country in response to growing geopolitical conflicts at any given time.

In sum, the U.S. State Department categorically advises against travel to Russia at this time. Though feasible in most instances, it entails severe and increasing dangers and minimal to no chances for the U.S. government to help its citizens. Traveling to Russia is not advisable at the moment due to the current travel advisory prohibited by the United States.

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