US Diplomats Forced Underground in Kyiv by Russia’s ‘Large Scale’ Assault

The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine has described how she had to go to a bunker following Russia’s latest bombardment of Ukraine overnight in a post that prompted social media users to call for more American air-defense support.

Bridget Brink has been Washington’s envoy in Kyiv since May 2022. She posted on X, formerly Twitter, how, along with other residents in the Ukrainian capital and the rest of the country, “we headed to the bunkers early this morning as Russia launched another large-scale attack against Ukraine with hypersonic missiles.”

Russia has repeatedly hammered Ukraine with waves of missile barrages since December 29 that only larger air defense systems can intercept.

“Thank you to Ukraine’s amazing air defenders, today & every day, for saving untold lives,” Brink added in the post on Saturday morning.

Newsweek emailed the U.S. embassy in Kyiv for comment on Saturday.

The comments sparked a thread about U.S. support for Kyiv. “Ambassador think how many more lives would be saved if @potus gave them more than just one Patriot system,” wrote one user. “We have hundreds which aren’t being used, surely we could give them more?”

Jürgen Nauditt commented: “Can Ukraine also thank the Americans? No—they no longer provide support and are sitting on their 5500 MBTs (main battle tanks), 4000 ATACMS [Army Tactical Missile Systems]—480 Patriots.”

Jon Sweet, retired U.S. Army military intelligence officer, posted: “Interdicting missiles in flight does not stop the launcher from firing more missiles. That takes destroying the weapon system at its point of origin. That calls for precision deep strike capability that the Biden Admin has not provided Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s air force on Saturday said there had been 37 missiles fired overnight in the Russian bombardment. These included six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, and three attack drones. Ukrainian air defenses shot down eight missiles and impacted the trajectories of over 20 other weapons using electromagnetic countermeasure, the air force added.

One missile was shot down over Kremenchuk in Poltava oblast, in the center of the country, according to Governor Filip Pronin, who said there were no casualties. Newsweek has been unable as yet to verify both sides’ claims.

In Dnipropetrovsk oblast, Governor Serhii Lysak reported that two Russian missiles downed over the city of Kryvyi Rih were “now scrap metal” after they had been hit.

Meanwhile, in the western Khmelnytskyi oblast, local authorities said that a missile was downed, although critical infrastructure and the civilian population “were not affected.”

The provision to Kyiv with more air-defense capabilities, as well as long-range missiles and artillery shells, were among measures in a package of assistance for Kyiv announced by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday.

Questions remain over continued U.S. assistance for Ukraine as some Republican lawmakers resist further funding, but Sunak said the £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) in aid, its largest annual commitment to Kyiv since the start of the war, showed that Ukraine “will never be alone.”