 After U.S. and France, Germany urges citizens to avoid travelling to Russia. The Foreign Ministry of Germany recommends that German citizens not visit Russia from February 20th through the 26th and urges Germans in the Russian Federation to be careful in the coming days. Also the German Foreign Ministry warned against visiting cities bordering Ukraine, such as Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh, Rostov and Krasnodar. The Minister also recommends that Germans be vigilant and avoid large gatherings of people regarding many events commemorating the war anniversary in Russia from February 20th through 26th. Before this, the United States and France have called on their citizens to leave Russia and Belarus respectively, both citing the invasion of Russia by Ukraine supported by the Belarusian regime. These new travel advisories follow concerns that Russia is preparing for a large scale offensive around the war's first anniversary on February 24th, 2023. The active involvement of Belarus in the invasion is feared. On February 13th, 2023, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow called on its citizens residing or travelling in Russia to leave immediately, citing the invasion of Ukraine and the potential for harassment, the singling out of U.S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials. Commercial flight options are extremely limited and are often unavailable on short notice. If you wish to depart Russia, you should make independent arrangements as soon as possible. The embassy said in a statement, the U.S. Embassy has severe limitations on its ability to assist U.S. citizens to depart the country and transportation options may suddenly become even more limited.