U.S. citizens urged to leave Russia

The U.S. Department of State on Monday advised U.S. citizens currently in Russia to consider departing the country immediately, citing Moscow's ongoing military attack on Ukraine and what the department feared to be potential harassment toward Americans by Russian government security officials.

The State Department said in an updated travel advisory that the U.S. government's ability to assist Russia-based U.S. nationals is limited now, so Americans should consider leaving the country via commercial options still available, reported Xinhua.

The European Union closed its airspace to Russian aircraft on Sunday, three days after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration expanded a "no-fly zone" to cover the entire territories of Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the western part of Russia. An increasing number of airlines are cancelling flights into and out of Russia.

As such and given "the ongoing armed conflict," the State Department in its advisory advised U.S. citizens against traveling by land from Russia to Ukraine, and urged those near the Russia-Ukraine border and those who plan to travel there "to be aware that the situation along the border is dangerous and unpredictable."