To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko/File Photo Police officers stand outside the U.S. embassy, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 20, 2023.
Reuters
17:44 JST, August 22, 2024
KYIV (Reuters) – The U.S. embassy in Kyiv said there was a heightened risk of Russian missile and drone attacks throughout Ukraine in the coming days as the country prepares to mark 33 years since its independence from the Soviet Union on Saturday.
Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said earlier this week that Russia had launched 9,600 missiles and 14,000 drones during strikes on Ukraine since it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv assesses that during the next several days and through the weekend there is an increased risk of … Russian drone and missile attacks throughout Ukraine in connection with Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 24,” it said.
The statement was posted on the embassy’s website late on Wednesday.
For Ukrainians, Independence Day has taken on greater significance since Russia’s invasion, which has stirred patriotic feelings among many people.
This year, the date falls more than two weeks after Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, even as Russian troops inch forward steadily in the east of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will deliver a “worthy response” to the incursion which he has described as a major provocation.
