Russia has threatened to launch a fresh wave of strikes against Ukraine, warning foreign citizens and diplomats to leave Kyiv days after launching a barrage of deadly weekend strikes on the capital city.
Russia’s foreign ministry warned the new strikes will target both “decision-making centres and command posts”.
“Under the current circumstances, the Russian Armed Forces are starting to launch systematic strikes against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in Kyiv,” the ministry said in a statement.
“We are warning foreign citizens, including personnel of diplomatic missions and international organisations, to leave the city as soon as possible,” it added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relayed the warning to US counterpart Marco Rubio in a phone call on Monday, urging him to evacuate US diplomats, Russia’s foreign ministry said.
There was no immediate comment from the US side, AFP reports.
Russia had already called on foreign citizens and diplomats to evacuate Kyiv earlier this month.
Ukraine dismissed the new threats, describing them as “rhetoric”.
“We are now telling our partners that they should not give in to all this Russian blackmail,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Austria, Vasyl Khymynets also called threats “nothing short of shameless blackmail”.
“(Russia) is effectively admitting that its shelling is aimed, among other things, at intimidating the foreign diplomatic corps,” he wrote on X.
A spokesperson for France’s foreign ministry also denounced the threats, saying: “We’re used to Putin’s threats. It is out of the question to evacuate”.
Meanwhile the European Union’s ambassador in Kyiv wrote on Facebook: “We are not going anywhere.”
Deadly weekend strikes
The warning comes after Russia launched 600 drones and 90 missiles, including its powerful Oreshnik hypersonic missile at Ukraine on Sunday May 24, according to Kyiv.
The Oreshnik hypersonic missile, which can travel 10 times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, according to Moscow.
The attacks killed four people and injured over 80.
“ It was a heavy attack,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video on X.
“90 missiles of various types, many of them ballistic missiles – 36 in total. There were 600 drones. Unfortunately, not all of the ballistic missiles were intercepted – the largest number of hits was in Kyiv.”
Mr Zelensky said the strikes hit a water supply facility, several schools, dozens of residential buildings and burned down a market.
“They really are unhinged,” he added.
“It is important that this does not pass without consequences for Russia. Today, everyone in the world who will not stay silent and chooses to help Ukraine is a defender of life.”
The attack came days after Russia accused Kyiv of striking a vocational school in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, killing 21 people.
Russia launched its full-scale offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.
US-led talks on ending the fighting have stalled in recent months due to conflict in the Middle East.
