US Embassy reopens in Kyiv almost three months after closing its doors

The US Embassy in Kyiv opened its doors again on Wednesday almost three months after it shut down in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “The Ukrainian people, with our security assistance, have defended their homeland in the face of Russia’s unconscionable invasion, and, as a result, the Stars and Stripes are flying over the Embassy once again.”

A government spokesman said a small number of diplomats would return initially to staff the mission but consular operations will not resume immediately and a no travel advisory from the State Department remains in place across Ukraine.

The U.S. embassy closed on February 14, ten days before Russia launched a full-scale invasion. Embassy staff spent the first two months of the war in Poland, but Charge d’Affaires Kristina Kvien returned to the country on May 2, visiting the western city of Lviv.

Many western countries, including France, Germany and Britain have reopened their embassies in Kyiv over the past month, after Russian troops pulled back from Ukraine’s north to focus on an offensive in the east of the country.