US Embassy in Ukraine Warns of Potential Major Air Attack

Ukraine could face a major aerial attack in the coming day, the U.S. government announced on May 23.

“The U.S. embassy in Kyiv has received information concerning a potentially significant air attack that may occur at any time over the next 24 hours,” the U.S. embassy announced in a new travel advisory.

“The embassy, as always, recommends U.S. citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”

Travelers in Ukraine were advised to identify their nearest shelter locations and download mobile phone apps, such as Air Raid Siren and Alarm Map, for attack alerts.

Separately on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced his government in Kyiv had received intelligence reports indicating Russian forces were preparing to attack with an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile.

“We draw the attention of partners both in the United States and in Europe to the fact that the use of such weapons and the prolongation of this war serve as a global example for other potential aggressors as well,” Zelenskyy said.

“If Russia is allowed to destroy lives on such a scale, no agreement will restrain other similar regimes based on hatred from aggression and strikes. We count on the world’s reaction, and that the reaction will be not post-factum, but preventive – pressure must be put on Moscow so that they do not escalate the war.”

Moscow may be seeking to carry out heavy attacks in retaliation for recent strikes on Luhansk, a region of eastern Ukraine currently controlled by Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukrainian forces for a May 21 drone attack that struck a student dormitory in the Luhansk city of Starobilsk.

As of May 23, Russian authorities reported 21 people had been killed and 42 had been injured in the attack on Starobilsk, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

Putin said there were no valid military targets near the dormitory and no basis for striking it. He also asserted the damage to the facility could not have been accidental.

“No one can claim that they were attempting to hit any target, or that the UAVs were shot down by our own assets and allegedly hit the building by accident,” Russia’s president said. “The strike was not random; it occurred in three waves, 16 UAVs, all at the same location.”

Kyiv and Moscow agreed to observe a ceasefire between May 9 and May 11, but accused one another of violating the truce partway through.