The State Department has ordered families of U.S. Embassy personnel in Ukraine to begin evacuating the country as soon as Monday, U.S. officials tell Fox News.
Next week, the State Department is also expected to encourage Americans to begin leaving Ukraine by commercial flights, “while those are still available,” one official said.
Moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops at the border with Ukraine, leading to fears of an invasion.
Late Friday night, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine announced the first shipment of ammunition had arrived as directed by President Biden.
U.S. officials say small arms ammunition constitute the bulk of the 200,000 pounds of what the State Department is calling lethal aid – needed by Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. U.S. officials also tell Fox that Javelin anti-tank missiles are expected to arrive early next week from the Baltic states and from U.S. military stockpiles.
Advanced Russian fighter jets have now arrived in Belarus, north of Ukraine. The Pentagon is concerned that Ukraine’s capital is “now in the crosshairs,” another official added.
The West has rejected Moscow’s main demands – promises from NATO that Ukraine will never be added as a member, that no alliance weapons will be deployed near Russian borders, and that it will pull back its forces from Central and Eastern Europe.
The U.S. government is planning to move “a ton” of weapons and ammunition into Ukraine in the coming days, officials say.
Talks between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday yielded no breakthroughs, though both sides agreed to continue negotiating diplomatically. The two diplomats will speak again after the U.S. submits a formal response to Russian demands next week.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
As Harbingers Daily reporter Brandon Beckham recently detailed, the White House is warning that “at any point” Russia could “launch an attack on Ukraine.”
Discussing the Biblical Relevance of the increase in tensions and rumours of wars, Beckham wrote:
Increased turmoil in the world, including the present Russia-Ukraine tension, highlights the disciples’ question of Jesus, as posed in Matthew 24:3, “…what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus explained in Matthew 24:6-8 that “the beginning of birth pains,” of the Second Coming, would include, among other things, “wars and rumors of wars” as well as geopolitical unrest, in which “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
The Russia-Ukraine conflict points to increasing geopolitical unrest in the world, particularly in Eastern Europe.
Bible prophecy teacher, Amir Tsarfati, recently emphasized that Russian President Putin has recently struck fear within Europe by strategically placing Russian troops in locations to surround and “threaten Ukraine from all sides.”
Tsarfati underscored that Europe is experiencing increased rumors of wars, commenting that Russia’s recent placement of soldiers, particularly in Belarus, has caused “panic in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, all the Baltics.”
“[I]t’s 2022 and the fear in Europe is that Russia is going back to become the Soviet Union,” observed Tsarfati, the Founder and President of Behold Israel.
Beckham further encouraged that “Despite increasing turmoil, including rumors of wars, the Believer should not become fearful.”
“Instead, we should heed the exhortation of Jesus,” he insisted pointing to Christ’s words in Luke chapter 21, which reads:
Luke 21:28 KJV – “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
