U.S. Pauses Operations at Kyiv Embassy, Warning of ‘Significant Air Attack’

The unusual alert came a day after Ukraine used American-made ballistic missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time. At least two other Western embassies closed for the day after the warning.

The United States Embassy in Kyiv issued an urgent warning on Wednesday morning that Russia might launch “a significant air attack,” closing the embassy and telling employees to shelter in place.

Air-raid alerts are a daily fact of life in Ukraine and the capital often comes under drone and missile attacks, but the U.S. embassy rarely issues such a specific alert or temporarily shuts down. At least two other Western embassies — Greece and Italy — announced that they too would close for the day after the U.S. warning.

The warning came one day after Ukraine’s military used American-made ballistic missiles to strike into Russian territory for the first time, after receiving long-sought authorization from President Biden to do so. The Kremlin had long warned that such strikes would be treated as an escalation, and on Tuesday vowed to respond.

“We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia,” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei V. Lavrov, said at a news conference on Tuesday. “And we will react accordingly.”

In its message on Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy said it had “received specific information” about a potential attack, but did not offer details. It urged Americans to pay special attention to air-raid alerts.

Just before 2 p.m., the Ukrainian authorities warned about a potential ballistic missile attack and urged people in Kyiv to seek shelter.

As alarm spread and Kyiv residents hurried to shelters, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency released a statement suggesting that Russia was seeking to stoke panic by spreading rumors about the scale of a potential attack.

Russia has launched a number of deadly strikes on Ukraine this week, including an hourslong nationwide assault on Sunday that killed at least nine people. A rocket strike later that day on a residential building in the city of Sumy, near the Russian border, killed 10 people. Then an attack in the port city of Odesa killed 11 more people, and another on Monday night in the Sumy region killed 11. Scores were injured in the attacks.

Overnight and into Wednesday morning, air-raid alerts warned of incoming attack drones for most of the country. Ukraine’s air force said that it had destroyed 56 drones before noon.

One explosion rang out in Kyiv just before 8 a.m. when air-defense teams intercepted a drone, according to Ukrainian officials, who said falling debris had started a fire at a multistory residential building. There was no immediate information on casualties.

Such drone attacks have become increasingly common in recent weeks. During 1,000 days of war, Russia has targeted the capital with more than 2,500 missiles and drones, according to data collected by the city’s military administration. Around half of the attacks took place this year.

Since the war began, there have been about 1,370 alerts in Kyiv, according to city officials. Those have lasted more than 1,550 hours in total — meaning that if residents spent every hour of every alert in a shelter, they would have spent more than two months in bunkers.

Many people seek shelter in subways, basements and underground facilities like parking garages when the air-raid warnings wail.

But there is often little warning when ballistic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound, are fired at the capital. The time between launch and impact can be minutes.

And many large-scale Russian attacks — like the one on Sunday, which targeted Ukraine’s power grid — feature a combination of drones, cruises and ballistic missiles aimed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.

Both Moscow and Kyiv appear to be stepping up their attacks ahead of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration in January.

Mr. Trump has said he wants to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine but has not said how, leading to speculation over whether he will maintain the same level of robust military support provided to Ukraine under the Biden administration.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has said he believes that the only way to force Moscow into peace negotiations is by showing strength and shoring up Ukraine’s position on the battlefield — with the help of its allies. He drove that point home again in an interview with Fox News that was broadcast Tuesday evening.

As long as Europe, the United States and the people of Ukraine remain united, he said, they could force President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to accept a just and lasting peace.

“Putin is weaker than the United States of America,” Mr. Zelensky said. And Mr. Trump, he added, “is much stronger than Putin.”

President Biden’s decision to allow the Ukrainians to use the American-made ballistic missiles to strike inside Russia was a major change in U.S. policy — just two months before Mr. Trump heads to the White House.

Ukraine had been pleading for permission to use them for months, saying it needed longer-range capabilities to hit the Russian war machine. The weapon, known as the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, can reach further into Russia than any other Ukrainian missile.

But Ukraine has also been developing its own long-range weapons. Mr. Zelensky said on Tuesday that the country would produce at least 30,000 long-range drones next year.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s military said it had used drones to target military installations in several regions of Russia overnight, including in the Novgorod region near the village of Kotovo, more than 400 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it had shot down 44 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 20 over the Novgorod region. Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

Residents of Kyiv remained on edge even after the afternoon warning about a potential ballistic missile strike was lifted.

Olga Zasiadvovk, 28, said that as a Ukrainian living in Kyiv who has endured countless bombardments, it was only natural that “a constant sense of danger” created anxiety.

With rumors swirling that a particularly large attack might be imminent, she said, she was nervous but trying to control her emotions.

“Understanding that I don’t know when this will end, I’m learning to manage it,” she said.

Yelyzaveta Tolubko, 35, said she had discussed the same rumors with friends in a group chat on Wednesday.

“Two of them are in a panic,” she said. “One canceled her dentist appointment, and the other started messaging our clients who had fittings scheduled today to check if they’re still coming because she doesn’t want to go. She’s scared. The third is calm, but overall, the mood has soured.”

“We’re not exactly cheerful every day, but today there’s this added tension,” she added.

Liubov Sholudko contributed reporting.

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

• Reactions to Putin’s Threats: While support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats resounded in pro-war venues, some Russians reacted with worry, gallows humor and apathy.
• Anti-Personnel Mines: The Biden administration approved supplying Ukraine with American anti-personnel mines to bolster defenses against Russian attacks as Ukrainian front lines in the country’s east have buckled.
• A New Missile: Putin said that Russia had launched a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine in response to Ukraine’s recent use of American and British weapons to strike deeper into Russia.

How We Verify Our Reporting

• Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs, videos and radio transmissions to independently confirm troop movements and other details.
• We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts.