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Latvia Urges Citizens to Leave Russia Amid Possible 'Terrorist Attacks'

The Latvian Embassy in Moscow. Kolesnikova / AFP

Updated with additional travel alerts from other countries.

Latvia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday urged its citizens to leave Russia as soon as possible and to avoid mass gatherings in Moscow amid reports of possible "terrorist acts" in the coming days.  

“We urge Latvian citizens in Russia to be cautious and avoid mass gatherings... due to possible terrorist attacks in Moscow within the next 48 hours,” the ministry said in a statement, which referred to a similar warning from the U.S. Embassy the day before. 

On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said it was monitoring reports that "extremists" had "imminent plans to target large gatherings."

It was not immediately clear what "reports" the embassy was referring to in its statement.

Shortly after that alert was issued, the United Kingdom advised British nationals against all travel to Russia.

Several other countries, including AustraliaEstonia, Sweden, Canada and South Korea issued similar advisories to their citizens in Russia, with some of them citing the U.S. Embassy's warning as the basis of the updated recommendations.  

There was no official comment from the Russian government about the reports as of Friday afternoon.

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