There’s a new sign tension with Russia is reaching a critical point in Ukraine.
The U.S. State Department has ordered the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy to leave the country. It’s also offering to pay for the voluntary departure of any non-essential staff.
The department cautions that it’s not an evacuation and the embassy will remain open. President Joe Biden might send more U.S. troops to neighboring countries like Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has denied plans to invade Ukraine but has 100,000 troops amassed on the country’s border. The U.S. is also stepping up its warnings about any Americans traveling to Ukraine or Russia right now.
Read: Metro Detroiters from Ukraine fearful for relatives still overseas
A Metro Detroit man was heading to Ukraine this week to teach the pillars of democracy in the nation of his grandparents. With tensions rising between Russia and Ukraine, he has paused his trip.
Mykola Murskyj has been educated in physics and math at Michigan and MIT. He studied international affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
On Thursday, he was supposed to travel to Ukrainian Catholic University to teach courses that build the tenets of democracy.
Read: Ukrainian Americans watch and worry as Russia threat looms