Russia Threatens Sustained Strikes on Kyiv, Orders Diplomats and Foreign Nationals to Evacuate

Russia warned foreign nationals and diplomatic personnel to leave Kyiv on Monday, threatening systematic strikes on the Ukrainian capital targeting what it described as military decision-making centres — one day after launching one of the heaviest bombardments of the city since the war began.

The Threat and Its Stated Rationale

Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that strikes would target “decision-making centres and command posts” in Kyiv, urging all foreign citizens — including embassy staff and international organisation personnel — to leave “as soon as possible.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relayed the warning directly to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio by phone, citing a May 25 ministry statement that had already recommended the evacuation of American and other diplomatic personnel from the Ukrainian capital.

Lavrov characterised the impending strikes as retaliation for what he called “continuing terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime against civilians in Russia.” Moscow specifically cited an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on a student dormitory in Starobilsk, in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, claiming the incident had “exhausted Russia’s patience.”

Ukraine’s military denied responsibility for the dormitory strike, saying it had targeted an elite drone command unit in the area. President Vladimir Putin had separately framed the weekend bombardment as retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on a vocational school in Luhansk that killed 21 people.

Weekend Bombardment: Scope and Casualties

Russia launched scores of drones and missiles at Ukraine over the weekend, killing at least four people, wounding dozens, and causing widespread damage across Kyiv. Sunday’s attack alone killed at least two people and wounded 91.

Among the weapons deployed was the Oreshnik hypersonic missile — a nuclear-capable system capable of travelling at ten times the speed of sound, according to Moscow. It was the third use of the Oreshnik in more than four years of war.

By Monday morning, residents and municipal workers were clearing rubble in the heavily damaged neighbourhood of Lukyanivka. More than 70 foreign diplomats visited the area to pay their respects to the victims.

Western Missions Reject Evacuation Demands

Western diplomatic missions in Kyiv flatly rejected Russia’s warnings. A spokesperson for France’s foreign ministry said: “We’re used to Putin’s threats. It is out of the question to evacuate.” The European Union’s ambassador in Kyiv posted on Facebook: “We are not going anywhere.”

The head of the EU mission in Kyiv, Katarina Mathernova, said the Russian warning was designed to sow panic. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called Russia’s threats “rhetoric” and urged partners not to “give in to all this Russian blackmail.”

This is not the first such warning. Earlier this month, Russia called on foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv when it threatened large-scale attacks on the capital if Ukraine disrupted a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square.

Broader Hostilities Continue on Both Sides

Ukraine continued its own strikes against Russian territory and infrastructure. In Russia’s Belgorod region, one man was killed and another injured in a combined missile and drone attack that also cut power and water supplies, local authorities said.

Denis Pushilin, the Russia-installed administrator of parts of occupied Donetsk, reported seven people killed in Ukrainian attacks, including a family of four whose vehicle was struck in the industrial town of Horlivka. In Ukrainian-held territory, Russian attacks killed two people and wounded 16 over 24 hours in the southern Kherson region.

Zelenskyy Presses Washington on Air Defences

In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had made little progress with the United States on expanding the production of anti-missile defence systems. He repeated that Kyiv was “expecting new diplomatic measures” from Washington — a signal of continued frustration with the pace of US engagement.