US passport. Archival photoMOSCOW, 1 Apr. U.S. citizens must leave Russia and Ukraine immediately, State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing. «We reiterate our call for all American citizens to leave Russia and Ukraine,» Price said. He noted that the US government is serious about obligation to notify its citizens of «events that could affect their security» outside the United States. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» to immediately leave Ukraine. To do this, according to the head of state, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. As noted in the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Kyiv. The main goal in the Russian department was called the liberation of Donbass.
