Multiple countries have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine, with US Secretary of State Blinken warning that a Russian invasion ‘could begin at any time’

British nationals should leave Ukraine immediately and not expect the possibility of a military evacuation, UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Saturday. 

“There are missile systems, artillery, and combat air all [in] place that would mean that Russia could mount an invasion with very little notice indeed. And our duty as government is to hope for the best but plan for the worse,” Heappey told Sky News in an interview.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) updated its travel guidance for Ukraine on Friday, advising “against all travel to Ukraine.” 

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, Heappey said the situation in Ukraine “will be very different to Afghanistan” which had “nothing going on in the sky.” 

The minister told BBC Radio 4 that in the event of a war in the region, “there’s simply not the ability” for there to be an international airlift. 

He highlighted the many “opportunities” over the weekend and next week to “carry on talking to Putin and his key ministers,” but cautioned that in the worst-case scenario, “an attack from the Russians on Ukraine is now feasible at any moment.”

Russia’s deputy representative at the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, mockingly asked on Friday whether “the US will invade Ukraine” in response to news of additional deployments of US troops to Poland in eastern Europe.

In response to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s warning that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin any day now, Polyanskiy tweeted: “Someone has to [invade Ukraine], after such a panic campaign.”

“Some reasonable people were hoping US-fanned hysteria was waning. Maybe they put a jinx on it, because scaremongers have clearly got second wind,” he said.

Polyanskiy — who is well known for provocative and bombastic statements on social media — also said that unlike US troops stationed in European countries (by invitation), Russian troops continue to remain within their own national borders: “We condemn the policy of the United States and its allies that relocate their military to eastern Europe,” he said.

On Friday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an additional 3,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne to deploy to Poland amid rising concern that Russia is about to invade Ukraine.

“Those are steps in a wrong direction. Instead of bringing de-escalation, it may provoke a crisis that all of us would want to avoid,” Polyanskiy said.

Ukraine remains committed to its goal to “ensure maximum protection” for the country in the face of warnings of a looming invasion from Russia, one of the country’s top officials told CNN on Saturday. 

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said that regardless of “whatever is published and whatever is said” the Ukrainian leadership’s “goal remains the same — to ensure maximum protection for Ukraine.”

UK and US officials have sounded strong warnings in the past 48 hours regarding Russia’s ability to mount an invasion at any moment. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday that a Russian attack “could begin at any time.”

Pointing to next steps, Podoliak said there are “still many rounds of negotiations at different levels to ensure a real de-escalation,” highlighting the visit from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Kyiv next week.

A “concentration of nervousness” could damage the country’s economy and lead to “internal destabilization,” Podoliak said, adding that a sense of “resilience” will prove crucial when facing the next phase of negotiations. 

Addressing those who wish to see destabilization, Podoliak warned that “the response from the state will be very tough and very powerful.”

He said the coordinated efforts of the Ukrainian military, diplomats, political leadership, and partners have been “the most meaningful since 2014,” which is the year that Russia annexed Crimea.

“Ukraine has not wasted any time during these few years. We have become stronger and are ready to defend the state and national interests,” he concluded. 

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Saturday that over 30 warships were underway in the Black Sea as part of planned naval drills, with vessels departing their homeports in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk and making the journey to areas designated for the exercises.

The drills are being conducted under leadership of Adm. Igor Osipov, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, the statement said. 

“The objective of the drill is to defend the seacoast of the Crimean Peninsula, the bases of the forces (troops) of the Black Sea Fleet — as well as the sites of economic significance for the country, sea lines of communication and areas of maritime economic activity — from possible military threats of a notional adversary,” the statement said.  

The ministry said the exercises would involve live-fire drills, including missile, artillery and air-launched weapons against sea, coastal and air targets.

More than 30 warships of various classes will take part, including frigates, patrol ships, small missile ships and missile boats, landing ships, small anti-submarine ships, as well as mine defense ships, the ministry added. 

The US State Department today ordered all non-emergency US employees at its Kyiv embassy to depart due to continued reports of a Russian military build-up near the Ukrainian border, indicating potential for significant military action, according to a tweet. 

“Despite the reduction in diplomatic staff, the core embassy team, our dedicated Ukrainian colleagues, and @StateDept and U.S. personnel around the world will continue relentless diplomatic and assistance efforts in support of Ukraine’s security, democracy, and prosperity,” the post from the US embassy in Kyiv added. 

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has demanded that the current Ukrainian administration take “all emergency measures” to protect the country.

In a series of tweets Saturday, Poroshenko spoke of “a lot of new and alarming information on Russia’s readiness to invade Ukraine in a full-scale manner.”

He called on the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky to “convene a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council with the participation of leaders of all parliamentary factions to discuss proposals and develop a common and joint action plan on how to protect the country.”

Poroshenko, who Zelensky defeated in the presidential election in 2019, also demanded “an extraordinary sitting of the Parliament on Saturday and to invite the President, the Minister of Defense, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, heads of intelligence agencies.”

He said Ukraine should initiate a meeting of the UN Security Council, while adding: ” I remain confident that the situation will be resolved peacefully, in a political and diplomatic way, and with the active position of the Ukrainian side.”

There will be no British troops in Ukraine if there is conflict with Russia, said UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey while speaking to Sky News on Saturday. 

Heappey said that although there have been “British troops involved in a training mission in Ukraine for many years,” there will be no UK forces sent to the country “if there is any conflict with Russia.” 

In a separate interview with BBC Radio 4, Heappey announced that all British military trainers would leave Ukraine “over the course of the weekend.”

His comments follow a visit by UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to Moscow this week during which the United Kingdom “urged dialogue as a way through to address any concerns that Russia” has, according to Wallace.  

“It’s important that I made the point about British and indeed Western involvement in Ukraine because I think the Kremlin would like there to be a pretext that there was Western aggression in Ukraine to which they were then responding,” Heappey said.

NATO’s borders “do need reinforcing at a time of crisis like this,” he said, adding this is why the UK and United States have ramped up their commitments to send troops to NATO’s eastern border. 

Some context: Ukraine is not a NATO member, and therefore doesn’t have the same security guarantees as NATO members.

But NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has left the possibility of Ukraine becoming a NATO member on the table, saying that Russia does not have the right to tell Ukraine that it cannot pursue NATO membership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for specific legal agreements that would rule out any further NATO expansion eastwards towards Russia’s borders, saying the West has not lived up to its previous verbal assurances.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that the United States would have more to say about its embassy in Ukraine “in the coming hours” in a response to a journalist’s question during a press conference in Fiji.

A reporter asked Blinken if the US would be evacuating its embassy in Kyiv.

“I’ll have more to say about that, we’ll have more to say about that in the coming hours,” said Blinken.

“This is something we’re focused on as we speak,” he said.

As foreign diplomatic missions in Kyiv are drawn down and citizens advised to leave, the British ambassador in Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, says she will be staying on.

Simmons tweeted Saturday: “I am staying in Kyiv and continue to work there with a core team. The embassy remains operational.”

On Friday, the UK Foreign Office advised against all travel to Ukraine. “British nationals in Ukraine should leave now by commercial means,” it said.