Embassy of the United States, Kyiv

History

The United States recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 26, 1991, and opened an embassy in its capital, Kyiv, on January 22, 1992. This first embassy was located in the former regional office of the Communist Party of Ukraine for Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi District that was confiscated from the Communists soon after the 1991 August putsch in Moscow. That building was erected sometime in the 1950s on the grounds of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on present day 10 Volodymyr Vynnychenko Street, destroyed by the Soviets in 1935. This was in the mold of other newly independent states in Eastern Europe, where former Communist Party offices were chosen as they were often cheap and expansive enough for the newly needed embassies.

In 2012, the embassy moved to its current 4.5 hectare (11.1 acres) location, acquired for $247 million. The embassy is on Igor Sikorsky Street, close to Kyiv’s western outskirts, and 15 minutes walk from Beresteiska station. Previously known as Tankova Street, the street was renamed by the City Council after Ukrainian-born aircraft design engineer Igor Sikorsky, due to a request from the embassy.

On June 8, 2017, a blast occurred outside the embassy.

During the prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the embassy moved to Lviv, closer to the western border of the country with Poland, and adopted other security measures. As military buildup and tensions continued to rise, the embassy was relocated to Poland a couple days before Russia launched a full-scale invasion. The embassy was reopened on May 18, 2022.

Picketing

Since 2004, the embassy has been picketed annually on April 8 by the "Institute Republic" group of human rights activist Volodymyr Chemerys, due to the refusal of the US government to pay compensation for the death of Ukrainian journalist Taras Protsyuk, who perished in 2003 during the Iraq War.

Staff

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv is staffed by approximately 181 Americans and more than 560 Ukrainians.

The current Ambassador of the United States of America to Ukraine is Bridget Ann Brink. Ambassador Brink was nominated by President Biden to be U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine on April 25, 2022, confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on May 18, 2022, and arrived in Kyiv on May 29, 2022.

Key U.S. Embassy officials include:

• Deputy Chief of Mission
• Political Counselor
• Economic Counselor
• Public Affairs Counselor
• Consul General
• Management Counselor
• Commercial Officer
• USAID Mission Director
• Regional Security Officer
• Department of Energy Director
• Agricultural Attaché
• Defense Attaché
• Peace Corps Director

List of chiefs of mission

Main article: List of ambassadors of the United States to Ukraine

References

References

1. (17 February 2020). "Втрачений Київ: перший греко-католицький храм Києва, що не сподобався комуністам".
2. Loeffler, Jane C.. (2011). "The architecture of diplomacy : building America's embassies". Princeton Architectural.
3. "The Embassy has moved!".
4. (June 8, 2017). "Ukraine: Blast at United States embassy in Kiev, no casualties reported". Business Standard.
5. (15 February 2022). "U.S. moving Ukraine embassy from Kyiv to Lviv amid Russian buildup". [[Reuters]].
6. (21 February 2022). "US relocates Ukraine embassy staff to Poland".
7. (22 February 2022). "U.S. Embassy Staff in Ukraine Have Been Relocated to Poland".
8. (18 May 2022). "The Stars and Stripes fly again over Embassy Kyiv. I can announce that we have officially resumed Embassy operation…".
9. "US Flag Raised at Embassy in Kyiv as Operations Resume".
10. (18 May 2022). "US reopens embassy in Kyiv".
11. "Ambassador Bridget A. Brink".
12. [http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2011/0912/ca/oslo2_gundersen.html The "Oslo Syndrome"], ''American Diplomacy'', November, 2011. Accessed April 1, 2014.
13. "Previous Ambassadors".
14. "Embassy of the United States KYIV-UKRAINE. William Green Miller".
15. "Embassy of the United States KYIV-UKRAINE. Steven Karl Pifer".
16. "Carlos Pascual". United States Department of State.
17. (2004-10-27). "A testing time for democracy".
18. [http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/21227/ Ex-US ambassador to Georgia John Tefft to lead diplomatic mission in Ukraine], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (September 30, 2009)
19. [http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-350756.html Yushchenko accepted credentials of US Ambassador and Ambassador of Turkey to Ukraine], [[UNIAN]] (December 7, 2009)
20. "Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Pennington".
21. Grytsenko, Oksana. (2019-05-31). "Kristina Kvien to temporarily head US Embassy in Ukraine". Kyiv Post.
22. "Deputy Chief of Mission Kristina Kvien".
23. (18 June 2019). "Welcoming Ambassador William B. Taylor Back to Ukraine as Chargé d'Affaires". US Embassy in Ukraine.
24. Bonner, Brian. (2019-06-18). "William B. Taylor returns to Ukraine to lead US mission". Kyiv Post.
25. "Deputy Chief of Mission Kristina Kvien".
26. "Ambassador Bridget A. Brink".