The United States has begun evacuating its embassy in Ukraine

US State Department Sunday Command He evacuated all family members of the US Embassy staff in Kiev, Ukraine, and authorized the evacuation of non-essential staff, fearing an imminent invasion of the country by Russia.

The Foreign Ministry specified that the evacuation was decided as a precautionary measure, due to Russia’s continuous attempts to destabilize the country and undermine the safety of Ukrainian citizens and those who come to visit or live in Ukraine. For now, the embassy will continue to operate regularly, and it has been determined that the departure of non-essential staff is only voluntary, as opposed to the departure of family members which is mandatory.

Because of a possible invasion of Russia, the State Department on Sunday urged US citizens not to go to Ukraine.

Evacuation of family members of the diplomatic corps and non-essential staff is common practice when there is concern that a conflict may start or other crises arise: in 2020, for example, the United States ordered the evacuation of non-essential people. – Essential personnel – essential to all of their embassies around the world, due to the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic. In this case, the decisions announced by the State Department come after a very tense week with Russia, marked above all by the failure of talks on Ukraine.

– Read also: Divisions in NATO that further complicate the situation in Ukraine

He talks about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine about two months ago, since Russia began massing more than 100,000 soldiers and armaments along the border with Ukraine. Despite diplomatic efforts so far to avoid a military operation, this possibility seems to have become increasingly tangible in recent weeks, and according to Ukrainian intelligence services and various Western countries, the Russian government could decide to invade Ukrainian territory soon.

Russia so far always to reject It plans an invasion, but its president, Vladimir Putin, has demanded that NATO withdraw its forces from Bulgaria, Romania and other ex-communist countries in Eastern Europe that joined NATO after 1997, as well as refuse to allow Ukraine to join the organization. In turn, the United States called for the withdrawal of the Russian army massed on the eastern Ukrainian border.

Meanwhile, the United States has ramped up arms shipments to Ukraine, to defend itself in the event of a Russian invasion actually taking place. The State Department said the latest arms shipment, worth a total of $200 million, arrived in Ukraine on January 22, and that the United States was ready to provide additional war materials in the event of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

– Read also: The UK accuses Russia of wanting to replace the government in Ukraine