Embassy of the United States, Kyiv

Embassy of the United States, Kyiv

Map
Location4 A.I. Sikorsky St.
04112 Kyiv, Ukraine
Coordinates50°27′54″N 30°25′55″E / 50.4650°N 30.4320°E / 50.4650; 30.4320
Opened1992
Relocated2012
2022 (temporary)
AmbassadorBridget A. Brink
Websiteua.usembassy.gov

The Embassy of the United States of America in Kyiv is the diplomatic mission of the United States to Ukraine.

History

Previous building (former office of Communist Party) of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv from 1992 to 2012

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.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3] 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.[4]

During the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, the embassy moved to Lviv, closer to the western border of the country with Poland, and adopted other security measures.[5] As military buildup and tensions continued to rise, the embassy was relocated to Poland a couple days before Russia launched a full-scale invasion.[6][7] The embassy was reopened on May 18, 2022.[8][9][10]

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.[11]

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
U.S. Ambassadors, and Chargés d'Affaires (with blue background)
N Ambassadors Ukrainian Image Term
# Jon Gundersen[12] Джон Ґундерсен 1992
Chargé d'Affaires
1 Roman Popadiuk[13] Роман Попадюк 1992–1993
2 William Green Miller[14] Вільям Ґрін Міллер 1993–1998
3 Steven Karl Pifer[15] Стівен Карл Пайфер 1998–2000
4 Carlos Pascual[16] Карлос Паскуаль 2000–2003
5 John E. Herbst[17] Джон Едвард Гербст 2003–2006
6 William B. Taylor Jr.[18] Вільям Тейлор 2006–2009
7 John F. Tefft[19] Джон Теффт 2009–2013
8 Geoffrey R. Pyatt Джеффрі Пайєтт 2013–2016
9 Marie Yovanovitch Марі Йованович 2016–2019
# Joseph Pennington Джозеф Пеннінгтон 2019
Acting Chargé d'Affaires[20]
# Kristina Kvien[21][22] Крістіна Квін 2019
Chargé d'Affaires[23]
# William B. Taylor Jr.[24] Вільям Тейлор 2019–2020
Chargé d'Affaires[23]
# Kristina Kvien[21][25] Крістіна Квін 2020–2022
Chargé d'Affaires[23]
10 Bridget A. Brink[26] Бріджет Енн Брінк
2022–present[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Втрачений Київ: перший греко-католицький храм Києва, що не сподобався комуністам". 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  2. ^ Loeffler, Jane C. (2011). The architecture of diplomacy : building America's embassies (2nd ed.). New York: Princeton Architectural. pp. 248, 264. ISBN 978-1-56898-984-6. OCLC 700033660.
  3. ^ "The Embassy has moved!". Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  4. ^ "Ukraine: Blast at United States embassy in Kiev, no casualties reported". Business Standard. June 8, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  5. ^ Lewis, Simon; Landay, Jonathan (15 February 2022). "U.S. moving Ukraine embassy from Kyiv to Lviv amid Russian buildup". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-02-16 – via www.reuters.com.
  6. ^ Beals, Monique (21 February 2022). "US relocates Ukraine embassy staff to Poland". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  7. ^ "U.S. Embassy Staff in Ukraine Have Been Relocated to Poland". Government Executive. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  8. ^ @SecBlinken (18 May 2022). "The Stars and Stripes fly again over Embassy Kyiv. I can announce that we have officially resumed Embassy operation…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ "US Flag Raised at Embassy in Kyiv as Operations Resume". YouTube.
  10. ^ "US reopens embassy in Kyiv". 18 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Ambassador Bridget A. Brink". U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  12. ^ The "Oslo Syndrome", American Diplomacy, November, 2011. Accessed April 1, 2014.
  13. ^ "Previous Ambassadors". Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  14. ^ "Embassy of the United States KYIV-UKRAINE. William Green Miller". Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  15. ^ "Embassy of the United States KYIV-UKRAINE. Steven Karl Pifer". Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  16. ^ "Carlos Pascual". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2011-05-28. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  17. ^ "A testing time for democracy". The Guardian. 2004-10-27. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09.
  18. ^ Ex-US ambassador to Georgia John Tefft to lead diplomatic mission in Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine (September 30, 2009)
  19. ^ Yushchenko accepted credentials of US Ambassador and Ambassador of Turkey to Ukraine, UNIAN (December 7, 2009)
  20. ^ "Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Pennington". Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  21. ^ a b Grytsenko, Oksana (2019-05-31). "Kristina Kvien to temporarily head US Embassy in Ukraine". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  22. ^ "Deputy Chief of Mission Kristina Kvien". Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  23. ^ a b c "Welcoming Ambassador William B. Taylor Back to Ukraine as Chargé d'Affaires". US Embassy in Ukraine. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  24. ^ Bonner, Brian (2019-06-18). "William B. Taylor returns to Ukraine to lead US mission". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  25. ^ "Deputy Chief of Mission Kristina Kvien". Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  26. ^ a b "Ambassador Bridget A. Brink". U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. Retrieved 2022-09-06.