MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. The United States’ embassy in Ukraine urges US citizens to leave the country due to an unpredictable security situation, according to a statement published on the embassy’s website.

"The US Embassy urges US citizens in Ukraine to depart now using privately available transportation options if it is safe to do so," the statement reads.

"US citizens wishing to depart Ukraine by land have several options. We understand that most border crossings into Poland and all main crossing points into Moldova are severely backed up and some are experiencing extremely long wait times (well over 30 hours in some cases). We recommend that, if possible, US citizens consider redirecting to border crossings with Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, which are currently experiencing lower wait times to cross," the embassy added.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported later that the Russian Armed Forces were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. The ministry emphasized that the Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons and there was no threat to civilians.