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Coronavirus pandemic

Diplomat excoriates American inaction in search for Russian school students stuck in US

According to the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Russian senior pupils went to the US through various study programs, and now they cannot return home amid the pandemic

US Department of State AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

US Department of State

© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

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Russia presents demarche to Washington over taking its children to US without notification

MOSCOW, April 23./TASS/. The Russian side has not yet received from the Department of State the list and addresses of the Russian school students remaining in the US, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

According to the diplomat, Russian senior pupils went to the US through various study programs, and now they cannot return home amid the pandemic. "About 80 Russian students have been staying in the US since last autumn, but regretfully, their list and contact information have not been provided to us in the past half-a-month," Zakharova pointed out.

"So far, the embassy has managed to identify 42 people. Eight of them have already returned to Russia, while 34 remain in different parts of the US. Many of them want to return back home as soon as possible," she stressed.

Some Russian schoolchildren believe they are safe and plan to stay in the US and leave as it was initially scheduled — in May or June. "We still don’t know the whereabouts of at least 38 people. We hope that our schools and the families of schoolchildren will take a more responsible stance and will realize possible risks when they next time see such American programs advertised," Zakharova stressed.

"We strongly believe that trips abroad of Russia’s underage citizens are inadmissible without coordinating this duly with Russian competent agencies, unless they are accompanied by parents or some other legitimate representatives."

The diplomat also urged the parents of the school students who are still in the US to provide data on them, including mobile phone numbers, to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian Foreign Ministry will not turn a blind eye to US reluctance in helping Russia find its school students who are stuck in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, Maria Zakharova stated.

According to her, the US has brushed aside requests from the Russian Embassy. "That is why, Russian diplomats in Washington and in the US have to deal with that issue independently," she pointed out. "We will of course draw conclusions from this behavior by US officials," Zakharova stressed.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,600,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 184,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 723,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

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