Embassies of Several Countries and St Nicholas Church Damaged in Ukrainian Capital Due to Russian Missile Attack

The embassies of Portugal, Argentina, Albania, Montenegro, Palestine, North Macedonia, and the St Nicholas Church, an architectural monument of national importance, were damaged in a Russian missile attack on Kyiv. 

According to the Portuguese broadcaster RTP, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's Charge d'Affaires in Lisbon in response to the strike.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said that the damage to the embassy deserved a strong diplomatic response.

The damage was minor: windows were smashed and doors were deformed. There were no reports of injuries.

In addition to the Portuguese embassy, the diplomatic missions of Argentina, Albania and Montenegro were also damaged. According to Paulo Rangel, there are several diplomatic facilities that are ‘located in the same building’.

‘Windows, doors, and fragments of the ceiling have been smashed in the premises. These are barbaric attacks on diplomatic institutions, you know that this is everywhere in the world, crossing all possible red lines and international rules,’ Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhyi said at a briefing on Friday.

According to Rangel, ‘the charge d'affaires of the Russian Federation was summoned to the ministry because the ambassador is not in Lisbon so that an official protest could be lodged’ because ‘it is absolutely unacceptable, according to all international diplomatic rules, that attacks on diplomatic missions in the capital of Ukraine could take place.’

Rangel assured that the security of the embassy was ‘always guaranteed’ and with ‘systematic reinforcements’. The minister recalled that over the past three years, staff ‘did not come to work on the embassy's premises several times’ and ‘this has happened several times’.

‘This is part of a scenario in which there are obviously risks. Especially personal risks. In any case, it is clear that under no circumstances should any diplomatic institution, any country, be allowed to be affected, let alone targeted,’ he said.

During the Russian combined attack on the night of 20 December, air defences destroyed five ballistic missiles flying towards Kyiv and 40 enemy drones in eight regions of Ukraine, while another 20 drones did not reach their targets.