US evacuating most Ukraine embassy staff over invasion fears

WASHINGTON — The United States is evacuating almost all of the staff from its embassy in Kyiv as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent.

A senior State Department official said Saturday that a very limited number of staff will stay to keep communications open with the government but all consular operations will be suspended.

The official, citing security concerns, would not say how many personnel would remain, but as of December, there were about 180 Americans working at the embassy. Some of those had already left and the majority will be returning to Washington, the official said.

The official said the step was taken due to the potential for major Russian attacks on Kyiv in the event of an invasion and repeated the warning that private American citizens should immediately leave.

“It isn’t just time to leave Ukraine, it is past time to leave Ukraine,” the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security information.

The State Department said it will maintain a small consular presence in Lviv, in Ukraine’s far west near the border with Poland, a NATO ally, to handle emergencies.

The State Department had earlier ordered families of U.S. Embassy staffers in Kyiv to leave. But it had left it to the discretion of nonessential personnel if they wanted to depart.

The Pentagon has ordered the temporary repositioning of the 160 members of the Florida National Guard who have been deployed to Ukraine since late November, press secretary John Kirby said in a statement Saturday. These troops, which have been advising Ukrainian forces, will reposition elsewhere in Europe.

Kirby said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “made this decision out of an abundance of caution — with the safety and security of our personnel foremost in mind.”