Italy, Spain and Greece join US in closing Kyiv embassies; Ukraine accuses Russia of spreading fake airstrike threat

Hours after US announced that it is closing its embassy in Kyiv over potential “significant air attack”, Italy, Spain and Greece also closed their embassies in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday.

According to The Guardian report, citing Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne, the intelligence indicates a combined drone and missile attack on the capital, and is not thought to be related to Russia’s change in its nuclear doctrine yesterday.

The UK embassy in Kyiv remained open, while Germany’s embassy remained open in a limited capacity.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s main directorate of intelligence accused Russia of spreading misinformation that there would be a large-scale attack today in what it described as “a massive information-psychological attack”.

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“A message is being spread via messengers and social networks … about the threat of a ‘particularly massive’ missile and bomb strike on Ukrainian cities today. This message is a fake, it contains grammatical errors typical of Russian information and psychological operations,” Reuters quoted the agency as saying in a statement.

The US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs earlier on Wednesday announced that the US embassy in Kyiv has received “specific information” about a potential significant air attack and therefore would be closed.

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In an official statement released for the US citizens in Ukraine, the embassy said it had received specific information about the attack on November 20.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the Embassy will be closed, and Embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place,” the statement added.

“The US Embassy recommends US citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced,” the statement further said.

The US citizens were asked to identify shelter locations in advance of any air alert, monitor local media for updates and follow the directions of Ukrainian officials and first responders in the event of an emergency.

The warning follows Ukraine’s use of US-made ATACMS missiles to strike Russian targets, a day after the Biden administration lifted restrictions on their use on the war’s 1,000th day.

On Sunday, President Biden authorised the supply of long-range missiles to Ukraine, aiming to bolster Kyiv’s defense while avoiding further escalation.

In response, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated, “Missiles will speak for themselves,” signaling that actions, not words, would follow.

In retaliation, Russian President Putin approved changes to Moscow’s nuclear doctrine, allowing the use of nuclear weapons in response to significant conventional attacks, including drone strikes.

Moscow has warned the West that supplying Ukraine with US, British, or French missiles would be seen as direct NATO involvement in the conflict.

Meanwhile, reaffirming its stance, Russia on Wednesday said that a “freeze” on the conflict in Ukraine along the existing frontlines would be unacceptable to the Russian Federation.

When Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was asked during his daily press briefing about the US embassy closing in Kyiv, he declined to comment but said that that Russia believes that the outgoing Joe Biden administration had shown that it is fully committed to continuing the war in Ukraine and is doing everything possible to achieve that.

With inputs from agencies