US shuts Kyiv embassy, warns Russia may launch major air attack

The US says it is shutting its Kyiv embassy “out of an abundance of caution,” warning that Russia may launch a large air attack on Ukraine today.

The embassy says employees have been “instructed to shelter in place,” telling Americans in the country to be ready to scramble for cover.

“The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has received specific information of a potential significant air attack on November 20,” the embassy says in a statement posted on its website. “The US Embassy recommends U.S. citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells Russia’s TASS state news agency that a special emergency hotline between the Kremlin and White House, created after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, is not currently in use.

On Tuesday, Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed an order expanding its nuclear doctrine after Ukraine used US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles for an attack on a Russian military facility.

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