Lviv becomes a diplomatic base as embassies leave Kyiv
A look back at the shift of Canadian and US diplomatic operations to western Ukraine in mid-February 2022.
What did it mean for a region far from the Russian border to become a diplomatic hub? On 16 February 2022, Lviv in western Ukraine was already at the centre of that question, after two Western governments moved staff there from the capital in the days before.
On 13 February 2022, Canada withdrew its military advisors from Ukraine under Operation Unifier and relocated them to an undisclosed destination in Europe. It moved its diplomatic staff to Lviv and suspended all operations at its embassy in Kyiv.
On 14 February 2022, the United States relocated its embassy operations from Kyiv to Lviv as well. It cited a dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces on the Russia–Ukraine border.
By 16 February 2022, then, Lviv hosted the diplomatic staff of both countries, while Kyiv no longer had their embassy operations running.
Life elsewhere in the regions
Other parts of Ukrainian public life carried on. On 10 February 2022, Kharkiv grandmaster Oleksandr Kovchan took second place at the GM Mix Third Saturday 233 international tournament in Novi Sad, Serbia. Kyiv's 13-year-old Ihor Samunenkov scored 4.5 points and finished eighth.
