The US Embassy in Kyiv has announced that it received information about a potential significant air attack today and due to security reasons will remain closed, Reuters and AFP reported, as quoted by BTA.
"The embassy will be closed and staff instructed to shelter in place," said a statement posted on the US embassy website. American citizens in Ukraine are urged to be prepared to evacuate immediately upon an airstrike.
This measure was taken a day after Ukraine used ATACMS (long-range) missiles to strike targets on Russian territory. According to information, the Ukrainian forces received permission to use these missiles from the government of US President Joe Biden. The event coincided with the thousandth day since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Moscow has long warned the West that if Ukraine were to use American, British or French long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia, the Kremlin would view such actions as direct NATO intervention in the war.
In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow would respond to Ukrainian attacks with American weapons on its territory. Yesterday, he further lowered the threshold for using a nuclear strike, expanding the range of scenarios in which Russia could use nuclear weapons.
Escalation of tensions between Russia and the West has raised nuclear risks to the highest level in more than half a century.