Under orders from the Kremlin, the US Embassy in Moscow has stopped employing Russians, cutting its consular staff by 75% and limit many of its services. The order went into effect on Wednesday, bringing the sharply deteriorating US-Russia relationship to a personal level. Because of the cuts, the embassy can offer only very limited services, such as considering “life-and-death” visa applications. For Anastasia Kuznetsova, a 20-year-old engaged to marry a Californian, it is a crushing blow. “We rarely employ any local personnel in the country where our diplomatic mission is,” he said last month.

Source: Irish Independent May 12, 2021 09:00 UTC