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The US government is keeping tabs on Americans headed to Ukraine’s war zone

Politico
Summary
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76% Informative

The Department of Homeland Security launched an interagency effort to scrutinize Americans returning from Ukraine ’s war zone.

Officials worried the Russia -Ukraine war would attract American extremists who would learn combat skills on the battlefield and then attack their fellow Americans when they returned.

Ryan Routh , the suspect of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump , fell through the cracks.

There is no evidence that Americans who fought with Ukraine 's military have engaged in political violence.

Department officials began working on identifying Americans traveling to Ukraine to fight, including those in talks with Ukrainian authorities about joining military or paramilitary units.

Officials drafted a rubric to work from based on a template officials had used to identify Americans who went to Iraq and Syria to fight with ISIS .

The agencies also sometimes read social media posts by people they find concerning.