Russia evacuates embassy in Ukraine

While Russian Embassy staffers hastily left Kyiv, Ukrainian government officials urged their citizens to leave Russia as soon as possible as an invasion grows more likely. Latvia’s prime minister reported Wednesday that Russian troops are in Ukrainian separatist regions known as the Donbas, and U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday referenced “the beginning of a Russian invasion.” More than 150,000 Russian troops are now amassed around Ukraine’s borders, and the Kremlin said Wednesday that separatists in Donbas asked for the Russian military’s help responding to aggression from Ukraine—a claim Kyiv denies.

Are they already at war? U.S. officials have said they cannot independently confirm Russian troops have entered Donbas. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported 80 cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday and 59 as of 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The shelling injured one Ukrainian service member and killed another. U.S. Ambassador Linda Greenfield-Thomas told the UN General Assembly that Russia’s continued aggression could trigger a massive refugee crisis with as many as 5 million displaced people. 

Dig deeper: Read Jill Nelson’s report in WORLD Magazine about missionaries in Ukraine who must decide whether to evacuate.