Russia Accuses U.S. of Disconnecting NY Consulate Phone Lines
Updated:
Jan. 20, 2021
Around 30 phone lines were reportedly cut off for more than 24 hours in what the consulate called an “unprecedented” incident.
Ting Shen / Xinhua / ZUMA / TASS
Russia’s Embassy in the United States has accused its counterparts of abruptly cutting off phone lines at the Russian Consulate in New York ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s last day in office.
The consulate said earlier in the day that several dozen of its landlines had been simultaneously disconnected, raising “huge problems” for the Russian diaspora in New York. The unexplained termination comes amid tensions over a recent cyberattack on U.S. federal agencies, considered one of the largest in history, that was attributed to Russia as well as U.S. accusations of Russian interference in its elections.