WASHINGTON — The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, DC, was evacuated Friday after the US Secret Service identified a suspicious object nearby. The incident also led authorities to close the Key Bridge and several surrounding roads before officials determined that the item posed no threat.
A Secret Service spokesperson said the object was discovered at approximately 8:40 a.m. Friday. The agency responded alongside the Metropolitan Police Department and other law enforcement partners.
“Out of an abundance of caution,” authorities shut down multiple roads, including the Key Bridge, the spokesperson said. Officials added that the investigation remained active and that further information would be released.
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Denys Sienik, Ukraine’s charge d’affaires, told The Post that embassy personnel were ordered to leave the building while a bomb squad was summoned to examine the suspicious object found outside the diplomatic mission.
“Following an inspection, U.S. law enforcement reported that the object discovered near the Embassy poses no threat; the area around the diplomatic mission has been reopened.
Consular services will resume shortly,” Sienik said in a later update.
The security scare unfolded as Washington and Kyiv, along with the US and Moscow, remain engaged in difficult negotiations aimed at bringing an end to Russia’s more than four-year war against Ukraine.