Russia has urged its citizens to refrain from traveling to northern Nepal following severe flooding in the region, official Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced on September 1.
Speaking at a press briefing reported by Russian news agency Interfax, Zakharova strongly recommended that Russian tourists currently visiting Nepal avoid traveling to its northern districts until local conditions fully normalize.
Emergency operations have already evacuated ten Russian citizens from the flood zone. Two Russian women managed to escape the affected area on their own, while Nepalese rescue workers transported two other Russian women directly to safety in the capital city of Kathmandu.
As of August 31, the Russian Embassy in Nepal had received formal inquiries regarding 12 Russian citizens who were located in the disaster zone and remained unaccounted for following the floods.
Search for missing tourists in power plant tunnel
Search teams are preparing to locate the missing Russian tourists inside a hydroelectric power station tunnel that was completely buried by landslips and mud during the heavy flooding.
Specialists conducting the operation are currently awaiting the arrival of heavy machinery at the site. Emergency authorities confirmed that removing the dense earth and debris blocking the power plant tunnel is impossible without heavy equipment.
Diplomatic guidance and regional background
The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation is the executive state body responsible for managing Russia's international relations, consular services, and overseas travel warnings for Russian citizens. As the official representative of the ministry, Maria Zakharova regularly issues travel updates and safety advisories during natural disasters affecting Russian nationals abroad. Interfax, which reported the briefing, is a major non-governmental news agency based in Moscow.
Nepal is a landlocked nation in South Asia situated along the central Himalayan mountain range, bordered by India and China. Its high-altitude terrain makes the region particularly vulnerable to torrential monsoon rainfall, which routinely triggers destructive flash floods and hillside landslides. Kathmandu, situated in the Kathmandu Valley, is the national capital, principal transport center, and home to foreign diplomatic missions, including the Russian Embassy. Hydroelectric power plants in the region rely on steep river channels to generate electricity, positioning key infrastructure and subterranean tunnels in deep valleys that can become buried under massive earth slides during heavy floods.
Zakharova emphasized that travelers planning future visits to Nepal must organize their itineraries with strict regard to prevailing local circumstances and ongoing disaster recovery efforts across the northern areas.
