WASHINGTON - The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv reopened Wednesday after a three-month closure due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the State Department.

Since the flag was lowered over the embassy in mid-February, the Ukrainian people, with U.S. security assistance, have "defended their homeland in the face of Russia's unconscionable invasion," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. "As a result, the Stars and Stripes are flying over the embassy once again."

The United States had closed the embassy in the days leading up to the Russian invasion, which was launched Feb. 24.

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According to Reuters, embassy staff spent the first two months of the war in Poland, but Charge d'Affaires Kristina Kvien returned to the country on May 2, visiting the western city of Lviv.

Russian forces failed to seize the Ukrainian capital and have shifted their focus to the eastern part of the country.

A number of other Western countries, including France, have also reopened their embassies in Kyiv.

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==Kyodo

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