US diplomats returned to Ukraine today for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The diplomats crossed into the country from Poland and traveled to the western city of Lviv for a day trip, according to the source.
The visit comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US would send diplomats into the country starting this week when he visited the Ukrainian capital over the weekend.
The department plans to reassess the security situation for the diplomats’ day trips into Lviv constantly, the source said.
The department is also reexamining the security situation in Ukraine more broadly after Russia bombed five railway stations in central and western Ukraine on Monday, according to the source and another source familiar with the discussions. The attacks that rocked the railway stations just hours after Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin completed their visit to Kyiv.
“The Kremlin's brutal tactics and utter indifference to human life are appalling. This is the latest example of attacks that have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure in the Russian government's brutal war against Ukraine,” said a State Department spokesperson when asked about the recent bombings and the plan to send US diplomats back into the country.
“As the secretary said, US diplomats will return to Ukraine this week. We are constantly reassessing and evaluating the security situation with a view toward resuming Embassy Kyiv operations as soon possible to facilitate our support to the government and people of Ukraine as they bravely defend their country,” the spokesperson added.
While US diplomats going into Lviv for day trips to not travel on trains, the sources said, the trains are a critical piece of the Ukrainian fight because they are one way that new military equipment is getting into Ukraine. Russia warned the US against arming Ukraine earlier this month in a diplomatic cable.
Wladimir Klitschko, a member of the key military defense in Ukraine and a former world boxing champion whose brother is the mayor of Kyiv, told CNN’s New Day it is not safe for anyone to be in Ukraine right now, including diplomats.
“If you're on Ukrainian soil, it is not safe for anybody. Eventually, and we'll look forward to have diplomats back in their embassies," Klitschko said Tuesday.