US warns that Russia is ‘stepping up’ strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure

Embassy urges American citizens to leave Ukraine if possible ahead of six-month anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday

By AFP 23 August 2022, 5:22 pm
In this photograph taken on August 21, 2022, a man climbs on a destroyed Russian tank at Khreshchatyk Street in Kyiv, which has been turned into an open-air military museum ahead of Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

KYIV, Ukraine — The US embassy in Kyiv said Tuesday that Russia was planning to increase strikes on civilian infrastructure and government buildings in Ukraine, as the nation prepares to mark its independence day.

Wednesday will mark the six-month anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as the nation’s 1991 break from the Soviet Union.

“The Department of State has information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days,” the embassy said in a new security alert on Tuesday.

The embassy urged its citizens to leave Ukraine if possible.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already warned that “Russia could try to do something particularly disgusting, particularly cruel” in the coming days.

The capital of Kyiv has announced a ban on public gatherings, and a curfew was declared in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city.

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