US shuts Kyiv embassy due to ‘potential significant air attack,’ tells Americans in Ukraine to be ready to seek shelter
By
Reuters
Published Nov. 20, 2024, 7:09 a.m. ET127 Comments
0 of 56 secondsVolume 0%
00:03
00:56
The United States shut its embassy in Kyiv on Wednesday due to “specific information of a potential significant air attack” and told its citizens in Ukraine to be ready to swiftly seek shelter.
The Italian and Greek embassies said they had also closed their doors after the unusual U.S. warning, while the French embassy remained open but urged its citizens to be cautious.
On Tuesday, Ukraine used U.S. ATACMS missiles to attack an arms depot inside Russia, making use of newly granted permission from the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden on the 1,000th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has been signaling to the United States and its allies for weeks that if they give permission to Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with Western-supplied missiles, then Moscow will consider it a major escalation.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place,” the U.S. Department of State Consular Affairs said in a statement on the embassy’s website.
Explore More
