EBN- The United States closed its embassy in Kyiv on Wednesday morning due to “specific information of a potential major air attack” amid tensions in the city over a possible Russian response a day after a major Ukrainian strike.
The Italian and Greek embassies also said they were closed after the unusual US warning, while the French embassy remained open but urged its citizens to be vigilant.
Air raid sirens briefly sounded in Kyiv this afternoon, and the air force told residents to seek shelter due to warnings of a missile attack. Senior Ukrainian officials urged citizens not to ignore the warning.
On Tuesday, Ukraine used American ATACMS missiles to bomb an arms depot inside Russia, exploiting recent statements by the administration of US President Joe Biden on the thousandth day of the war.
Russia has been warning the United States and its allies for weeks that it would consider giving Ukraine permission to strike deep inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles a major escalation.
Take cover immediately”
“Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed and embassy staff have been instructed to shelter in place,” the US State Department’s Consular Affairs Section said in a statement posted on the US embassy’s website in Kyiv.
The statement continued: “The US Embassy advises US citizens to take immediate shelter if air raid sirens sound.”
Russia’s foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin said in an interview published Wednesday that Moscow would respond to NATO countries that facilitate Ukrainian long-range missile strikes on Russian territory.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said on Wednesday that a Russian military command post was “successfully targeted” in the town of Gubkin in Russia’s Belgorod region, about 168 kilometers (102 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
The Ukranian statement raised the possibility of a second attack using ATACMS missiles, but did not specify who carried out the attack, when it occurred or what type of weapon was used. Ukraine has also used drones to carry out strikes against targets deep inside Russia.
The war has reached a critical juncture with Russia taking control of a fifth of Ukraine, North Korean forces deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, and doubts over the future of Western aid with Donald Trump back in the White House.
On Sunday, Russia launched a missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s power grid, killing seven people and renewing concerns about the resilience of the struggling energy network.
“Moscow is ready”
The US embassy in Kyiv urged American citizens to stock up on water, food and other essentials such as medicine in case of “possible temporary power and water outages” due to Russian strikes.
