U.S. urges Americans in Russia to leave; demands official explanation over plague controversy

[Financial News] The U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a health alert on the 6th (local time) and urged U.S. citizens to leave Russia immediately. Referring to the controversy over an alleged plague leak in Russia last month, the embassy stressed that it was in a position where it would be difficult to assist U.S. citizens.
The U.S. Embassy in Russia announced this on its website on the 6th, saying, "We are aware of reports that one person died in Irkutsk Oblast in a suspected case of pneumonic plague, and of related reports that quarantine measures and closures were implemented at hospitals in Irkutsk." It added, "The embassy is continuing to closely monitor the situation," and warned that "the U.S. government’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia is limited, particularly outside Moscow."
The embassy noted that "U.S. government employees may face additional restrictions on personal and official travel to certain regions due to health and security concerns."
On the 5th, Russian media outlets, including TASS, reported that Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old researcher at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Shelekhov, Irkutsk Oblast, was hospitalized on the 29th of last month with severe pneumonia symptoms and died on the 2nd. Local media alleged that Shipilova contracted plague after an accident at the institute on the 25th of last month in which she broke a test tube containing the plague pathogen.
In response, Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing said Shipilova had died after being diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown cause.” Russian health authorities subsequently placed 197 people who had been in contact with Shipilova under observation and quarantined 189 of them in hospitals and other facilities. In an announcement on the 6th, the health authorities stressed that tests on 60% of those people had found no trace of plague.
The same day, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on the incident at a news conference, saying, “I think Russia clearly has a responsibility to share more information with the world.” He said, “The information is quite limited at present, but I hope the situation will change in the coming hours and days.”
That day, U.S. media outlets including CNN reported that the State Department had sent Russia an official document requesting information about the suspected plague outbreak and the quarantine situation. The State Department later said in a statement from its spokesperson, “We have formally requested additional information from the Russian government and are also formally communicating with other countries around the world to share information.”
The U.S. has maintained its highest-level, Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Russia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
On the 6th, the U.S. Embassy stressed, “The Level 4 travel advisory for Russia remains in effect, and under it, U.S. citizens currently in Russia should leave immediately.” It added, “We again strongly advise U.S. citizens planning to travel to Russia not to do so, due to the risk of wrongful detention and security concerns.”
 
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