Western embassies shut down in Kyiv over anticipated Russian attack
- 20 November, 07:48
The US, Italy, Spain and Greece temporarily shut down their embassies in capital Kyiv for security reasons on Wednesday over fears of massive Russian attack. The United States was first to close its embassy after receiving “specific information” of a potential Russian air strike. The Ukrainian media, with reference to intelligence sources, reported a possible combined drone and missile attack on capital Kyiv as the war reaches its 1,000-day milestone.
The UK, however, did not close its embassy despite the growing security concerns. “The UK Embassy in Kyiv remains open. However, the safety of our staff and British nationals in Ukraine is paramount and we keep our embassy posture and travel advice under constant review,” the embassy said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Andriy Kovalenko, from Ukraine’s national security and defence council told local media that Russia was “trying to sow panicky moods” among Ukrainians.
The closing of Western embassies follows escalation of the war as Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons in response to Joe Biden authorizing Ukraine’s use of US long-range missiles in attacks deep into Russia. The Kremlin has also slammed Ukraine’s attacking an ammunition depot in Russia’s Bryansk region with ATACMS on Monday, which marked the first use of long-range missiles since the start of the war in 2022. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strike at Bryansk marked “a new phase of the Western war against Russia.: Addressing the G20 press conference in Brazil on Tuesday, Lavrov warned that the Kremlin will react accordingly.
