I vaguely recall that he had chosen somewhere else - but in the midst of the flights from HK(?) to other places, his passport was nulled by the US so he had to

I vaguely recall that he had chosen somewhere else - but in the midst of the flights from HK(?) to other places, his passport was nulled by the US so he had to stay in Russ, could no longer board int'l flights or something (?)