Today is Ukraine’s Independence Day – and as Russia’s invasion reaches the sixth-month mark – there is growing unease that attacks are planned by Moscow on government and civilian targets during the Ukrainian national holiday.
The United States reinforced those concerns when its embassy in Kyiv issued a security alert on Tuesday, warning that it “has information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days”.
“The Department of State has information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days,” the US Embassy in Kyiv said in a statement.
US citizens should leave Ukraine “now”, and by their own means, if possible, the embassy said.
Although this is not the first time the US has issued such a warning, the significance is Ukraine’s marking 31 years of independence from Soviet rule on Wednesday.
Speculation that Russia plans attacks to coincide with the holiday follows a ban by the Ukrainian government on Independence Day celebrations in the capital, Kyiv.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
