A poster featuring a Russian soldier and the words ‘The homeland we defend,’ in the center of Saint Petersburg, February 17, 2023. OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP
Expelled from the United States and immediately dispatched to the front by Russia. Such is the fate of several Russian nationals who, after being detained and put on a plane in Arizona on Monday, December 8, eventually landed in Moscow on Tuesday, December 9, after a stopover in Cairo.
According to the independent Russian media outlet Mediazona, 64 Russian passengers were on board. Authorities have provided no information about their status. However, several of them received military draft notices as soon as they arrived, the first step toward likely deployment to the front in Ukraine. The information was confirmed by the group Russian America for Democracy in Russia (RADR), an advocacy group established in the US by Kremlin opponents.
The only official statement from Moscow came after the plane landed: The Office of the Prosecutor General announced the arrest of Zair Saimoulline, age 69, who was charged with fraud and whose extradition from the US had been requested by Russia. According to RADR, he was likely on board the flight from Cairo.
This expedited expulsion from the US also involved nationals of other countries, including Iranians, who reportedly traveled with the Russians as far as Cairo. The move comes as anti-migrant raids in the US are intensifying in line with directives from US President Donald Trump.
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