The U.S. embassy in Ukraine cited “specific information of a potential significant air attack” on Wednesday morning, ordering its citizens in the country to shelter in place, as tensions between America and the Russian Federation rise ever higher.
The American embassy compound in western Kyiv was closed on Wednesday morning, with a convoy of diplomatic vehicles apparently evacuating the buildings. A message posted by the embassy staff stated it had received “specific information of a potential significant air attack” that was thought to be planned for Wednesday. The closure was out of an “abundance of caution”, they said, but nevertheless embassy staff were told to shelter in place and American citizens in Ukraine told to be prepared to take shelter.
Advice given by the embassy to Americans in Ukraine stated they should now: “Identify shelter locations in advance of any air alert… Immediately take shelter if an air alert is announced”.
Spain and Greece have also closed their embassies this morning and the British government is considering whether to close theirs, too. The Daily Telegraph cites British government minister Peter Kyle who says the Ministry of Defence is weighing options, stating: “They are looking very, very carefully at the situation. We will do whatever it takes to keep our people safe. It will be based on the evidence and intelligence we have at any moment… every day we are assessing all of the evidence that intelligence brings to us and our relationship with Kyiv, with the United States, is very, very tight”.
Air attacks on Ukrainian cities including Kyiv are a regular feature of the now 1,001-day long war, but Reuters described this particular warning, and the U.S. going to the length of evacuating its embassy “unusual”. The embassy has been evacuated before, for instance as the war began in 2022 when its staff was decanted temporarily to Poland as the Russian army attempted an ultimately fumbled lightning strike to capture Ukrainian cities.
There were air raids across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, but it is stated the intelligence of a “significant air attack” cited by the embassy relates to something separate which, at the time of writing, has not yet happened. Per Ukrainian state media, air defences around Kyiv were activated early Wednesday morning and residents were ordered by the Kyiv military administration to stay in their shelters until the all-clear was given.
It is claimed Russia launched 122 Iranian-designed Shahed bomb drones, air-dropped glide bombs, missiles, and other air attacks overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday morning, and that Ukraine’s air defence shot down 56 drones and two missiles.
The so-called “unusual” embassy closure comes just 24 hours after Ukraine launched what appears to be its first U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missile into Russia, as opposed to Russian-occupied land in Ukraine, where such weapons have hitherto been targeted. The change in White House policy towards direct attacks on Russia itself by Ukraine with American-supplied weapons in the past couple of days has been the subject of dire threats by Kremlin figures, who warn of a serious escalation and references to previous remarks by President Putin that such attacks would be treated as an act of war by Washington.