Russia: Authorities deport 4 U.S. citizens promoting propaganda

Russian authorities have decided to deport four Americans who had entered the country on a tourist visa but were actually teaching English and were engaging in "propaganda in favor of American values", as announced by the Russian Immigration Service (FMS) on Monday.

A court in Cheboksary, 700 km east of Moscow sentenced the four Americans and instructed them to leave Russian territory and to pay a fine of 2000 rubles, according to an announcement by the local branch of the immigration service.

"In reality, during their stay in Cheboksary, they were teaching english to students of the faculty of foreign languages (...), and kept up a propaganda in favor of American values", as is outlined in the notice.

"They have not yet left Russian territory but they are expected to do so soon", stated a service official to the AFP today.

In its communiqué, the migration service of the Russian Federation noted that among those arrested, one American had visited Russia in 2001, sent by the Peace Corps, the activity of which was banned the next year in the country due to suspicions of having engaged in espionage.

The judicial decision "has nothing to do with the deterioration of the international situation", stated the spokesman when asked by the AFP, while Moscow's relations with the US have entered the worst crisis in recent years due to the conflict in the Ukraine.