US Embassy in Kyiv warns of 'potential significant' air attack, as Russia accuses Biden of seeking to prolong war

[ad_1] LONDON -- The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv briefly closed its doorways on Wednesday out of "an abundance of warning," because it warned {that a} doubtlessly "vital" air strike could also be coming.

"The U.S. Embassy recommends U.S. residents be ready to instantly shelter within the occasion an air alert is introduced," the embassy mentioned in an replace.

An image exhibits a view of the US embassy in Kyiv on Might 18, 2022, because the embassy reopens after closing it for 3 months as a result of Russian invasion.

Sergei Supinsky/AFP through Getty Pictures

The embassy mentioned it had obtained "particular" details about the potential strike on Nov. 20.

The warning arrived amid fears that the conflict might escalate, a day after Ukraine's navy first launched U.S.-made long-range ATACMS missiles towards targets inside Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden had earlier this week given Kyiv permission for such strikes, U.S. officers advised ABC Information.

Tuesday's strike, which Russia mentioned it had defeated, got here inside hours of Russian President Vladimir Putin signing an up to date nuclear doctrine for his nation. A Kremlin spokesperson mentioned the updates meant "the usage of Western non-nuclear rockets by the Armed Forces of Ukraine towards Russia can immediate a nuclear response."

A U.S. Division of Protection spokesperson sought to downplay that replace on Tuesday, saying Russia had been signalling that it might replace the doctrine for "the final a number of weeks."

"It is the identical irresponsible rhetoric that we have seen earlier than and that we have seen frankly for the previous two years," mentioned Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, based on a transcript. "So, it is one thing that we'll proceed to observe, however we have no indications that Russia is making ready to make use of a nuclear weapon inside Ukraine."

She added that Russia has undertaken "escalatory motion" by bringing North Korean troopers onto the battlefield inside Russia.

Russia in flip accused the Biden administration of making an attempt throughout its ultimate months to increase the battle.

"If we typically take a look at the tendencies demonstrated by the outgoing U.S. administration, they're decided, totally decided to extend the conflict in Ukraine and are doing all they'll do for this within the time left at their disposal," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov advised journalists on Wednesday, based on a Russian information company Interfax.

Ukrainian service personnel use searchlights as they seek for drones within the sky over town throughout a Russian drone strike, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 20, 2024.

Gleb Garanich/Reuters

The Ukrainian air pressure mentioned Wednesday morning that Russia had fired in a single day some 122 uncrewed assault drones at areas all through Ukraine, together with the capital of Kyiv. No less than 56 of the launched drones have been shot down, the navy mentioned.

A number of guided missiles have been additionally fired towards the Dnipro area within the southeast, together with the Chernihiv and Sumy areas within the northeast. And an anti-aircraft missile was fired towards Kharkiv, the air pressure mentioned.

"Anybody asking Ukrainians in the event that they're afraid of Putin escalating clearly hasn't woken as much as the sound of hypersonic missiles exploding over their cities," Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukrainian parliament, mentioned Wednesday on social media.