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American and European Students in Russia Are Desperate to Get Out

Universities across the U.S. and Europe have shut exchange programs in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

Passengers at Moscow's Domodedovo airport on March 5. — Passengers at Moscow's Domodedovo airport on March 5.
Source: AFP

By

Alice Kantor and

March 9, 2022, 1:08 PM UTC

Gusts Petersons’s journey out of Russia involved five flights — including two scrapped after booking — covering nearly 6,000 miles, a 3 ½ hour train ride and a half-mile walk across the border into Estonia.

Until last week, the 23-year-old junior at Maine’s Bates College had been studying abroad in the Siberian city of Irkutsk. He’s now in Latvia, where he grew up.