US State Department prepares for possible Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital

The State Department is pulling out most of the staff at the US Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine. According to one official, the decision comes because Russia has a “very capable” army and the United States needs to prepare for the worst-case scenario: a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital.

The US mission maintains only a “core” of diplomats in Ukraine, and orders most officials to leave the country. Some of the remaining diplomats will move to Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, according to the official.

“Prudence demands that we assume, plan and prepare for the worst case scenario. And the worst-case scenario would obviously involve substantial Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital,” the official told reporters during a phone call on Saturday morning.

“Russia has a very capable army with substantial combat power, and if it chooses to use a significant part of that combat power against the Ukrainian capital, there are many opportunities – even with restraint and respect for diplomatic facilities – for things to go smoothly. wrong way,” said the official.

“We are transferring some people [para Lviv] in part because of its proximity to US diplomatic and consular facilities in neighboring countries, so that we can maintain close coordination with colleagues in these neighboring countries and ensure that in the event that military action by Russia begins, we can move these people safely if we decide to do so,” the official said.

US diplomats will perform essential diplomatic functions and provide “emergency consular services” in Lviv, the official said. But routine services will only be available to Americans in neighboring countries, the official said.

The diplomats are not working at a US facility in Lviv, they are only temporarily in the city, the official said.