U.S. Embassy in Kyiv closes after warning of attack

The American embassy in Ukraine’s capital said it received specific information about an incoming Russian air attack. The embassy urged its employees to stay away from work and be prepared to shelter in place if they heard the city’s air raid sirens. On Tuesday, the embassy urged U.S. citizens in Ukraine to stockpile food and water and be prepared for a loss of electricity and running water.

What else is happening in the war? Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for what actions could warrant a nuclear response from the Kremlin. Putin’s administration could respond with nuclear weapons to attacks against Russia by a non-nuclear state that a nuclear state helped carry out, the new policy explained. The decision followed widespread media reports that the United States permitted Kyiv to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles against targets inside Russia.

Also on Tuesday morning, Ukraine launched six U.S.-supplied long-range ballistic missiles into Russia, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. No casualties or damage resulted from the attack, Russian officials said. Putin previously claimed that such attacks would require the involvement of NATO satellite intelligence.

The Biden administration has not officially confirmed whether it was allowing Ukraine to use long-range ballistic missiles against Russian targets or whether it helped Ukraine carry out that strike.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters in Laos that the Pentagon would soon give Ukraine anti-personnel landmines to defend its territory against Russia, Defense News reported.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about Ukraine firing long-range missiles at Russia at around the same time Russia was saying such actions could warrant a nuclear response.