MOSCOW, April 1 (Reuters) - Russia warned its citizens on Wednesday not to travel to countries that have extradition treaties with the United States.
In a travel advisory, the Foreign Ministry said "the intensity of Washington's punitive justice" had increased since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, and people risked long prison sentences if they were handed over to the U.S.
"With numerous extraterritorial sanctions targeting strategic segments of the domestic economy, many Russians, without even realising it, risk finding themselves in the crosshairs of American law enforcement and intelligence agencies," the ministry said.
It said, without providing evidence or examples, that "U.S. intelligence agencies often engage in fraudulent schemes to lure Russian citizens abroad with lucrative commercial or tourist offers".
Russians were sometimes detained immediately on arrival in a third country, the statement said. The travel warning applies to Russians "who have reasonable grounds to believe they may be subject to criminal prosecution by U.S. authorities", or those appearing on U.S. sanctions lists.
Among the countries most likely to extradite Russians to the U.S., the ministry named Britain, Switzerland, most EU members, Canada, Australia, Israel, much of Latin America, Liberia, Morocco and a number of Asian states.
Russia said more than 100 of its nationals had been transferred to the U.S. in this way since arms dealer Viktor Bout was arrested in Thailand in 2008.
Bout spent 14 years in prison in the U.S. for arms trafficking, money laundering and conspiring to kill Americans. He was freed in 2022 in exchange for Brittney Griner, a U.S. basketball star who was imprisoned in Russia for bringing cannabis vape oil into the country.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Alex Richardson)
