Russia Issues Travel Warning Of U.S. Arrest Threats

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 20, 2015. Reuters/Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

Reuters: Moscow issues travel warning over U.S. 'hunt' for Russians

Russia's foreign ministry has warned its citizens traveling abroad of the risks posed by U.S. law enforcement bodies and special services, which it said were hunting for Russians around the world.

In a statement on Friday it also accused Washington of kidnapping Russians, citing cases such as that of Vladimir Drinkman, who was extradited to the United States from the Netherlands earlier this year.

"By believing that it is allowed to do all it wants, Washington goes as far as kidnapping our citizens," the foreign ministry said.

Drinkman has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he conspired with at least four other men to install "sniffers" to comb through computer networks of financial companies, payment processors and retailers around the world.

WNU Editor: This is one thing that I always liked about the Russian government .... they were (and still are) overly protective of their citizens who travel and/or work aboard .... and if a Russian citizen gets arrested .... Moscow always wants to know why .... and NOW ... and if the answer is not satisfactory, the threats start to come in. I now live in Canada .... and sometimes I wonder if Canadian citizens are a priority for this government (past governments are guilty too). The case of Canadian citizen Maher Arar comes to mind ... and how he was treated by U.S. and Canadian authorities makes me shake my head .... doubly so when one realizes that if it can happen to him, it can happen to almost anyone else.