A Russian strike damaged Lithuania’s embassy in Kyiv. Lithuania will summon Moscow’s ambassador and press partners to strengthen air defenses and diplomatic protection.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would summon the Russian ambassador in connection with Russia’s attack on Kyiv, during which the Lithuanian embassy was damaged.

The missiles fell just a few meters from the embassy. Fortunately, our staff were not injured. Today the Lithuanian MFA will summon the Russian representative in Vilnius

– Kestutis Budrys

According to the Lithuanian MFA, the embassy building has broken windows, and the courtyard is littered with debris.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported damage to the Lithuanian embassy in Kyiv during Russia’s night attack. Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga later clarified that the Lithuanian embassy sustained only minor damage and none of the staff were injured.

Russian terror spares no one and does not respect any international norms, including the Vienna Convention. It can be stopped only by force and with sufficient air defense capabilities

– Andriy Sibiga

Consequences of the strike on Ukraine and the scale of the attack

In Kyiv on August 1, according to authorities, nine people were killed, more than 30 were injured, including four children. Seventeen of the wounded are in hospital.

35 missiles were launched at Ukraine; 27 of them were ballistic.
185 attack drones of various types were deployed during the attack.
The main target of the strike was Kyiv; the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Poltava regions also sustained damage.
Air defense forces shot down two missiles, including one ballistic, and 154 drones.
President Zelensky noted that the air defense forces were able to shoot down only one ballistic missile due to a shortage of interceptors.

Ukraine lacks interceptors for the MIM-104 Patriot systems. This is the only Patriot system in Ukraine capable of effectively shooting down Iskander-M missiles, Kinzhals, and Zircons, which fly on ballistic and quasi-ballistic trajectories. At the same time, this reduces the effectiveness of countering such missiles. In this context, Ukrainian authorities called on partners to expand the production of ballistic missile interceptors.

In this context, Lithuania and Ukraine are coordinating further steps with international partners to strengthen the security of diplomatic missions and the region’s defense capabilities.