U.S. shuts Kyiv embassy over 'significant air attack' threat
The United States said Wednesday that its embassy in Ukrainian capital Kyiv closed after receiving "specific information of a potential significant air attack."
KYIV, Ukraine — The United States said Wednesday that its embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, had closed after receiving “specific information of a potential significant air attack.”
The decision came after Ukraine’s first strike on Russian territory with U.S.-supplied long-range weapons and President Joe Biden authorized the provision of antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine to help fight off Moscow's forces.
The embassy said in a security alert that it had closed “out of an abundance of caution,” and that employees were “being instructed to shelter in place.” It added that U.S. citizens should take shelter if an air alert was announced.
Shutting the embassy is not an unprecedented move amid the war, which reached its 1,000th day Tuesday. The Italian and Greek embassies said they had also closed their doors after the U.S. warning. The French embassy remained open but urged its citizens to be cautious.
Searchlights look for Russian drones in the skies over Kyiv, in the early hours of Wednesday.Gleb Garanich / ReutersLater, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate said on Telegram that Russia was “conducting a massive information and psychological attack.” It added that a “fake” message containing grammatical errors was “being spread through messengers and social networks.”
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