U.S. to evacuate Ukraine embassy amid Russian invasion fears
WASHINGTON — The United States is set to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion is imminent.
U.S. officials say the State Department plans to announce early Saturday that most American staff at the Kyiv embassy will be required to leave the country ahead of a feared Russian invasion. The State Department would not comment.
The department had earlier ordered families of U.S. embassy staffers in Kyiv to leave but had left it to the discretion of nonessential personnel if they wanted to depart. The required exit comes as Washington has ratcheted up its warnings about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said a limited 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. can retain a diplomatic presence in the country.
The Pentagon announced Friday that it is sending 3,000 combat troops to join 1,700 who already are assembling in Poland, in a demonstration of American commitment to NATO allies worried at the prospect of Russia invading Ukraine.
With Russian troops just miles away, the residents of a small Ukrainian village wonder if a possible invasion has its sights set on them.
The additional soldiers will depart their post at Fort Bragg, N.C., over the next couple of days and should be in Poland by early next week, according to a defense official, who provided the information under ground rules set by the Pentagon. They are the remaining elements of an infantry brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. Their mission will be to train and provide deterrence but not to engage in combat in Ukraine.
That announcement came shortly after Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, issued a public warning for all American citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible. Sullivan said Russian President Vladimir Putin could give the order to launch an invasion at any time.
In addition to the U.S. troops deploying to Poland, about 1,000 U.S. soldiers based in Germany are shifting to Romania in a similar mission of reassurance to a NATO ally. Also, 300 soldiers of an 18th Airborne Corps headquarters unit have arrived in Germany, commanded by Lt. Gen. Michael E. Kurilla.
The American troops are to train with host-nation forces but not enter Ukraine for any purpose.
The U.S. already has about 80,000 troops throughout Europe at permanent stations and on rotational deployments.
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