KYIV, Ukraine — The United States said Wednesday that its embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv[1], had closed after receiving “specific information of a potential significant air attack.”The decision came after Ukraine’s first strike on Russian territory with U.S.-supplied long-range weapons[2] and President Joe Biden[3] authorized the provision of antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine to help fight off Moscow's forces.The embassy said in a security alert[4] that it had closed “out of an abundance of caution,” and that employees were “being instructed to shelter in place.” It added that U.S. citizens should take shelter if an air alert was announced.Shutting ...

"Obviously, at a conference like this, on the sidelines, obviously people are mentioning political issues that there is a focus on."And that, folks, was the closest Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came to confirming what everyone knew. Donald Trump was the talk of Rio. And the talk of Lima before that.Albanese has just wrapped up APEC and G20 summits in Peru and Brazil. The looming arrival of the second Trump administration was always going to cast a long shadow over these gatherings, given his plans to up-end global agendas on climate change and trade.In the formal summit sessions and bilateral meetings, ...

Getty ImagesRussia has resumed large-scale missile strikes on Ukraine as it seeks to maximise its military advantageIn a matter of days US President Joe Biden's administration and Russia have made separate - but significant - moves aimed at influencing the outcome of the war in Ukraine, two months ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.There is a sense of Moscow maximising its gains and of Biden abandoning long-held red lines before Trump seeks to deliver on his claim to end the war in 24 hours.Ukraine has already acted on Biden’s decision to let Kyiv fire first long-range ATACMS ...

How likely is it that Russia would use nuclear weapons in the Ukrainian conflict?The Kremlin has brandished its strategic arsenal before over the course of the Ukrainian conflict, in an attempt to deter western involvement. But for all the threats, the US has said it has seen no signs of unusual movement at Russian nuclear weapon storage sites, suggesting there has been no change in the physical positioning of tactical warheads.Most experts think use of nuclear weapons by Russia is unlikely for now, but have cautioned against complacency. Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, ...

Ukraine has fired[1] long-range British Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory for the first time, a day after launching United States-made long-range missiles into the country, British media outlets report.Russian war correspondent accounts on Telegram posted footage on Wednesday they said included the sound of the missiles striking in the Kursk region, which lies on Ukraine’s border. At least 14 huge explosions can be heard, most of them preceded by the sharp whistle of what sounds like an incoming missile. The footage, shot in a residential area, showed black smoke rising in the distance.People in Kursk also reportedly found fragments ...

Ukraine has long been restricted from using Western missiles to strike inside Russia.The US relaxed some of the rules over the weekend following North Korea's involvement in the war.Kyiv has since used both ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets on Russian soil.Ukraine is finally using its powerful, longer-range Western missiles to strike targets inside Russia after waiting over a year for permission.On Wednesday, Ukraine fired British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time, according to several media outlets and local footage[1]. The UK defense ministry and Kyiv did not immediately comment on the ...

According to anonymous sources quoted in The Washington Post, one of Donald Trump[1]’s first actions on being re-elected was to call Vladimir Putin[2]. That call was immediately denied by the Kremlin. As Trump moves back into power, we should get used to confusion[3] and mixed messaging – between him and Vladimir Putin, it’s always going to be hard to tell which, if either, might actually be telling the truth on any given occasion. In fact, Russia[4]’s response to the return of Trump has been a similarly confusing mixture of shameless flattery and blatant trolling. Putin’s comments on “courageous” Trump were ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims he is open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire with US President-elect Donald Trump but wants to keep Ukrainian land and demands Kyiv abandon its NATO ambitions, five Kremlin insiders told Reuters.[1][2] Trump, who has promised to swiftly end the war, takes office as Russia controls a Ukraine-sized territory comparable to Virginia and advances at its fastest pace since 2022 - although it comes at great cost to the Russian army.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official[3]. Russia currently occupies 18% of Ukraine, including all of Crimea, which it annexed in ...

A retired U.S. colonel has said Russia[1] has "every right" to attack NATO[2] targets, TASS reports.Lawrence Wilkerson, a retired colonel who served as chief of staff for former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell[3], made the statement following President Joe Biden[4]'s authorization for Ukraine to use Washington-supplied long-range weapons inside Russia, telling the Russian news agency that Ukraine's launch of ATACMS would not be possible without U.S. aid.For months, Ukraine pushed the Biden administration for authorization to use Army Tactical Missile Systems[5], or ATACMS, to conduct deep strikes into Russian territory. The authorization followed North Korea's deployment of more than ...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia and its ally Belarus on Tuesday launched a second stage of drills[1] intended to train their troops in tactical nuclear weapons[2], part of the Kremlin’s efforts to discourage the West from ramping up support for Ukraine.In announcing the nuclear maneuvers last month, the Russian Defense Ministry[3] said they were in response to “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation.”The Kremlin has expressed outrage after French President Emmanuel Macron[4] said he doesn’t exclude deploying troops to Ukraine, and the U.S. and some other NATO allies allowed Kyiv[5] to use the weapons supplied ...