Western governments close embassies in Kyiv after U.S. attack warning

Spain, Italy and Greece have followed the U.S. in closing their embassies in Kyiv, after what has been described as a "significant attack" threat from Russia. Washington claims to have received "specific information" about a possible strike, and advised embassy staff to be ready to seek refuge in a secure location. The U.S. Department of State Consular Affairs said the embassy in Kyiv was closing "out of an abundance of caution". 

France and the UK have opted to keep their diplomatic bases in the capital open. French citizens in Ukraine have been urged to exercise caution, while the UK has said the situation was "under constant review." Germany has said its embassy in Kyiv remains open in a limited capacity, adding it would take "appropriate measures if the situation changes."

Ukraine's military intelligence agency has accused Russia of launching a "massive information-psychological attack" against the country, with the distribution of fake messages about a possible missile strike. 

It comes hours after Ukraine fired several U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles into Russian territory for the first time, on the thousandth day of the conflict. Ukraine said a Russian military command post had been "successfully struck" in Russia's Belgorod region, around 168 km from the border. 

On Sunday, outgoing U.S. President Biden granted Ukraine permission to use the weapons to strike targets inside Russia, allegedly in response to the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops on its eastern flank. Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service has warned the move by NATO allies "will not go unpunished." 

The U.S. Secretary of Defense has confirmed reports that President Biden has approved the provision of land mines for Ukraine, despite criticism from arms control groups. The weapons have been described as "non persistent" meaning they become inactive within weeks of deployment, thus reducing the threat to civilians.

Speaking in Laos, Lloyd Austin said Ukrainians were already fabricating their own anti-personnel landmines.

Austin said "the landmines that we would look to provide….we can control….and that makes it safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own."

Ukraine has been seeking the weapons amid Russian advances in its eastern Donetsk region. Neither the U.S. or Russia are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the deployment and transfer of antipersonnel land mines.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on the U.S. embassy closure, but said Russia believed the Biden administration was committed to continuing the conflict. He added that additional security checks had been put in place on critical infrastructure facilities in Russian controlled Crimea including the bridge over the Kerch Strait. 

Briefing reporters in Moscow, Peskov also said that a "freeze" in the conflict along current frontlines is unacceptable to Russia. He was responding to reports that President Putin might discuss a ceasefire deal on such terms with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. "It's important for us to achieve our goals which are well known to everyone," Peskov said. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has opposed the US decision to allow longer range Ukrainian strikes on Russia. Speaking on his return from the G20 meeting in Brazil, he said the move "would be interpreted as a move to enflame the war and to ensure that it never ends but spreads."

Türkiye has maintained ties with both Ukraine and Russia throughout the conflict, but has declined to endorse western sanctions on Moscow. 

In unconfirmed reports, Russia claims Ukraine lost four hundred service personnel on the Kursk front within the most recent 24 hour period. The defense ministry in Moscow gave a detailed list of western-supplied Ukrainian equipment it had destroyed.