U.S. Embassy in Kyiv announces temporary closure, citing threat of ‘significant air attack’

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv announced it will be closed on Wednesday after receiving “specific information of a potential significant air attack on November 20.”

The embassy said its employees have been instructed to shelter in place and recommended that U.S. citizens “be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”

The closure comes just one day after Ukraine’s first strike on Russian territory using U.S.-made ATACMS missiles. U.S. President Joe Biden was reported to have given Kyiv permission to use the weapons inside Russia on Sunday. On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved changes to Moscow’s nuclear doctrine expanding the grounds for the use of nuclear weapons.