US embassy in Kyiv shuts down over anticipated air attack

The US embassy in Kyiv has received information of a potential, significant air attack and will be closed, the Department of State Consular Affairs said in a statement, reports AFP.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place,” a statement published on the website of the US embassy in Kyiv said.

“The US Embassy recommends US citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”

The warning comes a day after Ukraine used US ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) rockets to strike Russian territory, taking advantage of newly granted permission from outgoing President Joe Biden on the war’s 1,000th day.

The missiles are more than three times the speed of sound (Mach 3) making it difficult for air defences to intercept them. Their 300km range can reach targets far beyond the front lines of the war.

Staff at the Irish Embassy in Kyiv are working from home Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Russia had been warning the West for months that, if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire US, British and French missiles deep into Russia, Moscow would consider those NATO members to be directly involved in the conflict.

In October, President Vladimir Putin vowed that Moscow would respond to any such strikes.

Tuesday, the Russian leader lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, with nuclear risks rising amid the highest tensions between the Kremlin and West in more than half a century

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the attack showed Western countries wanted to “escalate” the conflict.

“We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia, and we will react accordingly,” Mr Lavrov told a press conference at the G20 summit in Brazil.

Overnight, Russia said that it had shot down 50 Ukrainian drones, mostly over border regions.

Russian systems “destroyed or intercepted 44 Ukrainian aerial drones,” according to a statement from its Defence Ministry.

The majority were shot down over the Novgorod region, according to the ministry.

Other drones were downed in Kursk, Belgorod and Briansk, as well as in the Moscow region.

In addition, six Ukrainian drones were shot down this morning over the Samara, according to the regional governor.

The attack did not cause any injuries or damage, he said on Telegram.

Russia announces almost daily that it has destroyed Ukrainian drones launched against its territory.

Ukraine says that it carries out these strikes, which often target energy sites, in response to Russian bombings of its territory.

The White House, UK and European Union condemned as “irresponsible” Mr Putin’s lowering of the threshold for using nuclear weapons.

The Russian leader has used nuclear rhetoric throughout the conflict but has grown increasingly belligerent since last year, pulling out of a nuclear test ban treaty and a key arms reduction agreement with the US.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused G20 leaders in Brazil of failing to act over Mr Putin’s nuclear threats, saying that the Russian leader had no interest in peace.

He later warned that Ukraine would lose the war if the United States cut military funding.

US president-elect Donald Trump is a vocal sceptic of the billions that the administration of Joe Biden has given to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in 2022.

“If they cut, we will – I think we will lose,” Mr Zelensky said in an interview with US network Fox News.

“We will fight. We have our production, but it’s not enough to prevail,” he added.

The US this week said that it had cleared Ukraine to use ATACMS against military targets inside Russia – a long-standing Ukrainian request.

Mr Lavrov said that the missiles could not have been fired without US technical assistance.

Russia has said the use of Western weapons against its internationally recognised territory would make the US a direct participant in the conflict.

Confirmation of the strike came shortly after Mr Putin signed a decree that enables Russia to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states such as Ukraine if they are supported by nuclear powers.

The new doctrine also allows Russia to unleash a nuclear response in the event of a “massive” air attack, even if it is only with conventional weapons.

Mr Peskov said this was “necessary to bring our principles in line with the current situation.”