Lithuania protests after Russian strikes damage embassy in Kyiv

Lithuania has lodged a strong protest with a representative of the Russian Embassy in Vilnius after Russian forces damaged the Lithuanian Embassy in Kyiv during an overnight attack, LRT reported, citing the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.

The representative was summoned to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry on August 1. The large-scale attack on the Ukrainian capital damaged civilian infrastructure, including the Lithuanian diplomatic mission. Embassy staff were not injured.

At least nine civilians were killed and several dozen injured in the attack, the second large-scale Russian assault on Kyiv in two days. Two Russian missiles or jet drones struck Kyiv’s densely populated Pechersk district, five metres and 150 metres from the Lithuanian Embassy’s fence.

In its protest note, Lithuania strongly condemned the attack, the damage to the embassy building and the threat posed to the safety of diplomatic staff. It said the actions were a serious violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Lithuania said it would demand compensation from Russia after completing a detailed assessment of the damage and reserved the right to take further retaliatory measures. It also again called on Russia to stop escalating the war it started, end its aggression against Ukraine, withdraw its occupying forces from all internationally recognised Ukrainian territory and compensate Ukraine for the losses caused.