Western embassies in Kyiv shut down amid US warning of ‘significant’ Russian attack
US mission advises citizens to be ready to shelter; Kremlin says emergency Washington hotline not being used after Ukraine struck targets on Russian soil with US-made missiles
The US embassy and some other Western embassies in Kyiv said that they would stay closed Wednesday for security reasons, with the American delegation saying it had received a warning of a potentially significant Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital.
The precautionary step came after Russian officials promised a response to US President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with US-made missiles — a move that enraged the Kremlin. Moscow said US-made longer-range missiles had been used in a Ukrainian attack that struck a weapons warehouse in the Bryansk region.
The Italian and Greek embassies said they had also closed their doors after the unusual warning received by the US, while the French and British embassies remained open.
The Kremlin said it had no comment on the US embassy closure but noted that an emergency line of communication to keep the two nuclear superpowers from stumbling into a conflict was not being used.
In a statement, the US embassy instructed employees to shelter in place and also recommended that US citizens in Kyiv be prepared to immediately shelter in the event of an air alert.
“The US Embassy in Kyiv has received specific information of a potential significant air attack on November 20,” it said in a message on its website. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Embassy will be closed, and Embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place.”
It urged US citizens in Ukraine to have reserves of water, food, and other essentials such as required medications for the event of a “possible temporary loss of electricity and water” caused by Russian strikes.
“Persistent Russian attacks targeting civilian infrastructure throughout Ukraine may result in power outages, loss of heating, and disruption of municipal services,” it said.
The warning was unusual for its specificity as Russian air attacks have become a common, near-daily occurrence in Ukraine.
Russia has been signaling to the United States and its allies for weeks that if they give permission to Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with Western-supplied missiles, then Moscow will consider it a major escalation.
A so-called hotline between Moscow and Washington was established in 1963 to reduce the misperceptions that stoked the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 by allowing direct communication between the US and Russian leaders.
“We have a special secure line for communication between the two presidents, Russia and the United States. Moreover, even for video communication,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told TASS state news agency. But when asked whether this channel was currently in use, he said, “No.”
Moscow said the use of ATACMS, the longest-range missiles Washington has supplied to Ukraine so far, was a clear signal the West wanted to escalate the conflict. It has said such weapons cannot be launched without direct US operational support and their use would make Washington a direct combatant in the war, prompting Russian retaliation.
The Kremlin also accused the US of trying to prolong the war in Ukraine by stepping up weapons deliveries to Kyiv ahead of Donald Trump entering the White House. A US official on Tuesday said landmines would also now be provided.
“If you look at the trends of the outgoing US administration, they are fully committed to continuing the war in Ukraine and are doing everything they can to do so,” Peskov said.
In another sign of escalation, Putin on Tuesday signed a decree lowering the threshold for when Russia would use nuclear weapons. Washington said afterward it had not seen any reason to adjust its nuclear posture.
The Kremlin said Russia considered nuclear weapons a means of deterrence and its updated nuclear doctrine was intended to make clear to potential enemies the inevitability of retaliation should they attack Russia.
Russian diplomats say the crisis between Moscow and Washington now is comparable to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the two Cold War superpowers came closest to intentional nuclear war, and that the West is making a mistake if it thinks Russia will back down over Ukraine.
Peskov told RIA news agency the West was seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia by allowing Kyiv to strike deep into Russia with US-made weapons.
“And, of course, they use Ukraine as a tool in their hands to achieve these goals,” Peskov said.
The Kremlin also rejected as “absurd” and “laughable” suggestions it was involved in the cutting of telecommunications cables running under the Baltic Sea.
Two telecommunications cables cut in the Baltic Sea in 48 hours prompted European officials to say Tuesday that they suspect “sabotage” and “hybrid warfare” linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s quite absurd to keep blaming Russia for everything without any grounds. It is laughable in the context of the lack of any reaction to Ukraine’s sabotage activities in the Baltic Sea,” Peskov said.
On the campaign trail, Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, repeatedly criticized US support for Ukraine and claimed he could secure a ceasefire within hours.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told Fox News late on Tuesday that Ukraine will lose if Washington pulls funding.
Russia has recently escalated air attacks, launching complex combined drone and missile barrages to target energy infrastructure this week as temperatures begin to drop.
The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that it shot down 56 out of 122 drones and two out of six missiles launched by Russia overnight.
Ukraine’s air force said it lost track of 58 Russia-launched drones on its radars, five drones returned to Russia and one headed to Belarus.
Russia’s forces have also been advancing on the ground.
They claimed to have captured the Ukrainian town of Illinka, close to the strategic hub of Kurakhove in the eastern Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, Ukraine struck a factory in Russia’s Belgorod region that makes cargo drones for the armed forces in an overnight attack, according to Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine’s Security Council.
He also claimed Ukraine hit an arsenal in Russia’s Novgorod region, near the town of Kotovo, located about 680 kilometers (420 miles) behind the Ukrainian border. The arsenal stored artillery ammunition and various types of missiles, he said.
It wasn’t possible to independently verify the claims.
Despite increased rumblings of possible talks to end the conflict, there is no sign of Putin and Zelensky being anywhere close to converging on a possible deal.
Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory in exchange for peace, while Putin has demanded Ukraine’s troops abandon four regions in its south and east as a precondition to peace talks.
Both have said they do not want a temporary ceasefire or freezing of the conflict.
