State Department advises US citizens to leave Ukraine now, says Russia is ‘stepping up efforts’ against civilians

Russia is “stepping up efforts” to strike civilian infrastructure “in the coming days,” the State Department said in an alert late Monday, marking the first time the U.S. has specifically warned that civilian and government buildings could be targeted.

The U.S. Embassy advised U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine on ground transportation now, “if it is safe to do so.”

A Russian missile attack killed 19 people in Kharkiv this week, according to a video statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia has fired 3,500 cruise missiles at Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

“It’s simply impossible to count Russian artillery strikes,” he said.

The killing of Darya Dugina — daughter of Russian ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin — in a car explosion over the weekend prompted some Russian nationalists to call for more strikes in Ukraine. Russia has blamed Ukrainians for Dugina’s death, while Ukraine has suggested it might have been a result of Russian infighting.

The war has killed 9,000 Ukrainian troops, Ukrainian Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said this week. The United Nations has estimated 5,587 civilians have been killed in Russian attacks.

The violence has also caused fears of nuclear dangers; Russian attacks near a nuclear plant in Nikopol on Monday wounded four people. President Joe Biden and other world leaders have called for Russia to cease attacks near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

The world is facing a “maximum moment of danger” in terms of nuclear risk, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday.

Elsewhere in the war, the Ukrainian military said it struck a strategically important bridge in the Russian-occupied Kherson region on Monday. The war has stretched into six months of conflict between the two countries, as of this week.

The State Department has warned traveling American citizens that the war in Ukraine is volatile and could “deteriorate without warning.”

Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, invaded Ukraine in late February.

Christopher Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Politico