U.S. State Department Building in Washington DCWASHINGTON, Jan 24 The State Department allowed U.S. diplomats to voluntarily leave Ukraine and advised U.S. citizens to consider leaving the country, the department said in a released statement.
"On January 23, 2022, the Department of State authorized the voluntary departure of U.S. employees and ordered the departure of eligible family members from the embassy in Kiev", — follows from the statement.
The State Department explained its recommendation by a certain «threat of military actions from Russia,» which supposedly could begin «at any moment.» At the same time, Washington assured that the embassy would continue as usual. American citizens in Ukraine were advised to consider the possibility of leaving now. As a senior State Department official said at a briefing, in the event of a sudden outbreak of conflict, «the US government will not be able to evacuate American citizens.» Based on this information, Americans in Ukraine «should plan accordingly, including using commercial opportunities to leave the country.» >NYT: US may send thousands of troops to Europe over Ukraine The State Department also advised Americans not to visit Russia due to «persisting tensions» along the Russian-Ukrainian border, the situation with COVID-19 and the limited capacity of the embassy to assist US citizens. Previously, CNN channel quoted sources as saying that the US embassy in Kiev had asked the State Department to allow all non-essential personnel and their families to leave. Subsequently, one of the FoxNews journalists wrote on Twitter that the department ordered the evacuation to begin on Monday, January 24. At the same time, this information was not confirmed at the State Department. On Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Western countries were preparing several major provocations in the situation around Ukraine, Moscow does not exclude that they could be informational or military. Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of «aggressive actions», emphasizing that he does not threaten anyone and does not intend to attack anyone. Tensions in the region are being fueled by the United States and other countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, which have increased the number of exercises in the Black Sea. As Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted earlier, NATO is increasing arms supplies to Ukraine, where the number of Western instructors has increased. According to the diplomat, this could provoke the Ukrainian authorities «to military adventures,» which poses a direct threat to Russia's security. Kiev sent half of the entire personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the Donbass, the department noted. Moscow believes that the West is trying to create a grouping of troops near the Russian borders.