- Foreign governments have begun reopening their embassies in Kyiv.
- The US is among them, sending a new ambassador and other diplomats back to the Ukrainian capital.
- The Diplomatic Security Service is also on the ground to protect the embassy and its personnel.
As most of the combat has shifted to the eastern and southern Ukraine, life in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities has resumed.
Foreign counties have started reopening their diplomatic missions in Ukraine despite the constant threat of Russian long-range strikes. The US has followed suit, reopening the US Embassy in Kyiv and appointing a new ambassador.
Because the US is a major supporter of Ukraine’s government and military and because Russia remains a threat throughout Ukraine — Ukraine’s security services are constantly tracking Russian supporters and collaborators — the reopened embassy, other diplomatic facilities, and Americans in the country could be targeted.
As a result, the White House is considering sending US special operators to guard the facility.
Special operators in Kyiv?
According to The Wall Street Journal, the State Department and the Department of Defense are weighing whether to send US special-operations teams to guard the US Embassy in Kyiv and to protect American diplomats in Ukraine.
Any deployment of special operators would complement security teams from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. Insider understands that Diplomatic Security Service special agents are among the staff who have returned to Kyiv.
While the State Department is in “close touch” with the Pentagon regarding the security requirements for the reopened diplomatic mission in Kyiv, no decisions have been made about sending US troops to Ukraine to protect the embassy, the State Department says.
The Pentagon has echoed that statement, saying that no decisions have been made and that there is not a specific proposal “about the return of US military members to Ukraine for that or any other purpose” being debated at senior defense levels.
Read More: State Dept Diplomatic Security Service Agents Back in Kyiv Ukraine