How many US citizens are in Ukraine?
The US and other western governments had previously called for their citizens to flee the country, drawing condemnation from the Ukrainian president
Last week, the US announced that all US citizens should leave Ukraine as soon as possible, in case that it became impossible for them to be evacuated in case of war in the country.
The United States is ready to keep engaging in diplomacy, but we are also ready to respond decisively to a Russian attack on Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/fpeUMiOar2
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 16, 2022
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was an 'imminent' threat of a Russian attack, which has not materialized. The Ukrainian government said nations should not be hasty in telling citizens to leave, as it would putting their economy under big pressure and causing panic.
But the US government conceded it does not know how many Americans are actually in Ukraine in order to help them.
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Is it known how many Americans are in Ukraine?
The US has no requirements for Americans living abroad to declare where they live, instead relying upon census data.
'Right now, we do not have what we consider to be an accurate count of Americans, private Americans, who are residing in Ukraine,' said Ned Price, State Department Spokesperson.
Estimates are difficult to make, considering the last Ukrainian census was carried out in 2001. There was supposed to be a modern census conducted in 2020, but it was postponed until 2023.
What are the latest developments in Ukraine?
On Tuesday, Russia announced troops were moving away from Ukraine after the end of what was described as an 'end of training exercises.' Units of the Russian military had been on joint trials in Belarus, which had set alarm bells ringing in NATO headquarters.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, 'February 15 will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed,' elaborating by saying, the West had been 'shamed and destroyed without firing a single shot.'
“I think the risk of full-blooded invasion ... was never quite as high as was being portrayed by some Western governments...” former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers tells #r4today
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) February 16, 2022
“You could say the West has exaggerated, or played up the scale of the threat..."
The US is not satisfied with the evidence provided. President Biden said that the US has 'not yet verified' claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Secretary of State Blinken told ABC's Good Morning America that he has seen 'no meaningful pullback' and described the situation as 'deeply, deeply concerning.'
But claims in western media that war would begin on February 16 seem to be unfounded.