WORKERS at the Irish Embassy in Kyiv have been ordered to work from home as tensions escalate in Ukraine.
Ukraine has started firing missiles into Russian territory following a block being lifted by US president Joe Biden this week.
Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has confirmed that staff at the Embassy in the Ukrainian capital are working from home as a precaution.
He said: “Tensions are escalating. The war continues to escalate in Ukraine, and it is a savage war, where hundreds of thousands of young people and soldiers on both sides have been killed.
“It’s incumbent on Russia to end this war, and end it as quickly as possible… because the carnage is absolutely unacceptable.”
The US embassy in Kyiv has shut as Ukraine braces for a huge Russian revenge strike.
It comes a day after Ukraine used US-supplied ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time – and Moscow warned it would “react accordingly”.
The US embassy said it has received “specific” intel about a “potential significant air attack”.
It said: “Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place.”
In an unusual warning, the embassy told US citizens to “be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced”.
Both Spain and Greece have also shut their embassies – telling citizens to “take extreme security measures” due to “increased risk of air strikes throughout Ukraine”.
Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow will respond to Ukraine’s strikes with US-made weapons deep into Russia.
In September, he said it would “mean that Nato countries are at war with Russia”.
And just days after the US approved Ukrainian use of its far-reaching rockets, Vlad signed a new doctrine to lower the bar for launching a nuclear strike.
Almost simultaneously, Ukrainian media reported the first use of the ATACMS missiles on Russian territory.
CROSSING OF RED LINE
Ukraine’s military did not comment on the use of the weapons – but took responsibility for a blaze at a weapons depot in the city of Karachev, Bryansk, 70 miles over the border.
The Kremlin claimed Ukraine had fired six ATACMS – claiming they caused no serious damage.
It said it marked the crossing of a red line – officially putting nuclear retaliation on the table.
Putin was left raging when US President Joe Biden finally approved use of the far-reaching rockets by Ukraine on Sunday.
His foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Moscow would “react accordingly” after Ukraine’s use of US-made missiles over the border.
He described the strike as a signal that Kyiv “wanted to escalate”.
