Tara Reade, the previous Senate aide who accused President Biden of sexual assault as he ran for president in 2020, mentioned on Tuesday that she had moved to Russia and was searching for citizenship there, in response to Sputnik, a Russian-government-run news web site.

Ms. Reade informed Sputnik in a news conference that whereas her “dream is to live” in each the United States and Russia, she may reside solely in Russia as a result of that’s the place she feels “surrounded by protection and safety.”

In 2019, Ms. Reade, who briefly labored as a workers assistant in Mr. Biden’s Senate workplace in 1993, accused him of inappropriately touching her. Then in 2020, across the time when he appeared prone to win the Democratic nomination for president, she accused him of sexual assault. Mr. Biden flatly denied her allegations.

In interviews with The New York Times in April 2020, no former Biden workers members may corroborate any particulars of Ms. Reade’s allegation or recall any related habits by Mr. Biden towards her or any girls. A good friend of Ms. Reade’s mentioned that she had informed her the main points of the allegation on the time.

In May 2020, a high-profile lawyer of the #MeToo period, Douglas H. Wigdor, dropped Ms. Reade as a shopper as her credibility got here underneath harsh scrutiny after Antioch University disputed her declare of getting obtained a bachelor’s diploma from its Seattle campus.

On Tuesday, Ms. Reade informed Sputnik that whereas her choice to go to Russia “was very difficult,” she believed she could be extra protected there.

“As far as like going to another safe haven, I mean, there are many Americans here, and I don’t want to out a bunch of Americans, but there are people here that are coming to Russia,” Ms. Reade mentioned.

She added that “luckily, the Kremlin is accommodating.”

“So we’re lucky,” she mentioned.

Her departure to Russia comes as Moscow and Washington spar over the warfare in Ukraine, which President Vladimir V. Putin casts as an existential battle with the West, which backs Kyiv.