Ukraine denies report in The Guardian on evacuation of embassies from Kyiv

Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi has said that foreign partners have not informed Ukraine of any plans to move their diplomatic missions out of Kyiv.

Source: Tykhyi in a comment to LIGA.net

Quote: "I do not know where some foreign media outlets got this information. As of now, we at the foreign ministry have not received any such requests or messages from foreign diplomatic missions about plans to move somewhere."

Details: Tykhyi was responding to a report by the British newspaper The Guardian which claimed that some Western embassies were preparing contingency plans to evacuate to Lviv or eastern Poland amid Russian attacks.

The journalists noted in their article that Western diplomats had publicly said they intended to remain in Kyiv, recognising that their departure would be a propaganda victory for Moscow and could create the impression that Ukraine had been abandoned. However, in private conversations, several senior diplomats allegedly confirmed that plans were being drawn up for the possibility of targeted Russian strikes on foreign diplomatic missions.

The Guardian also quoted an unnamed diplomat who claimed that Russia intended to "freeze Kyiv" and push it back into the Stone Age.

"The situation is obviously deteriorating fast," the diplomat said.

Background:

• Ahead of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, several Western countries evacuated their embassies from Kyiv to Lviv and Poland.
• In late May 2026, following another series of large-scale attacks, Russia's Foreign Ministry threatened further strikes and demanded that foreign diplomats leave the Ukrainian capital. European diplomatic missions ignored the calls at the time and continued operating in Kyiv.

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