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USA to evacuate embassy in Kyiv, UK demands citizens to leave Ukraine
The United States is set to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. officials said the State Department plans to announce early Saturday that virtually all American staff at the Kyiv embassy will be required to leave ahead of a feared Russian invasion.
A small number of officials may remain in Kyiv but the vast majority of the almost 200 Americans at the embassy will be sent out or relocated to Ukraine’s far west, near the Polish border, so the U.S. can retain a diplomatic presence in the country.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said a limited number of US diplomats may be relocated to Ukraine’s far west, near the border with Poland, a NATO ally, so the US could retain a diplomatic presence in the country. The State Department would not comment.
The department had earlier ordered families of U.S. embassy staffers in Kyiv to leave. But it had left it to the discretion of nonessential personnel if they wanted to depart. The new move comes as Washington has ratcheted up its warnings about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said a small number of U.S. diplomats may be relocated to Ukraine’s far west, near the border with Poland, a NATO ally, so the U.S. could retain a diplomatic presence in the country.
In a related context, British nationals in Ukraine are being told to leave the country now while commercial means are still available, the BBC reported.
A UK government source said the safety of Britons was the "number one priority" and said the decision was "the right precaution to take".
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Several other countries have also advised their nationals to leave the country, including the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea.
According to the BBC, this comes after Moscow began massive military drills with neighbouring Belarus. These are believed to be Russia's largest deployment to Belarus since the Cold War.
