The United States announced Wednesday that the U.S. embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, was closed after receiving “specific information regarding the possibility of a significant airstrike.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy has been closed and embassy personnel have been instructed to evacuate to designated locations,” the ministry said in a security alert, adding that if an air alert is issued, U.S. citizens should evacuate. recommended to do so.
The embassy closure is not an unprecedented step as the war marked its 1,000th day on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian capital came under attack by a Russian drone early Wednesday morning, Kyiv City Military Administration Director Serhiy Popko announced, adding that debris fell in the Dniprovsky district.
“A fire broke out in an apartment in a high-rise residential building,” he wrote in a Telegram post, adding that information about the victims was being revealed.
An escalation of Russian airstrikes has targeted energy infrastructure across Ukraine, forcing widespread power outages and killing more than a dozen people.
The new threat to Kiev follows news that Ukraine has carried out its first attack on Russian territory with long-range weapons provided by the United States, attacking military facilities in the Bryansk region with ATACMS missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin formally amended his country’s nuclear doctrine early Tuesday, lowering the standards for the country’s use of nuclear weapons, as the Kremlin fiercely rebelled against the loosening of U.S. restrictions on its allies.
According to the revised principle, the Russian government could be justified in carrying out a nuclear attack if attacked by a non-nuclear state supported by a nuclear state.
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