Russia Warns Foreigners to Leave Kyiv as It Threatens More Strikes

Russia warned foreigners to leave Kyiv, as it threatened further strikes on the Ukrainian capital on May 25.

Moscow said it was preparing to launch “consistent and systemic strikes” on Kyiv, in retaliation for a Ukrainian drone attack on a university in a Russian-controlled region of Ukraine, according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry accused Ukraine of committing “crimes against our people” and showing a “rude disdain for the norms of international humanitarian law” by “deliberately” attacking civilians.

“All this has exhausted our patience,” the ministry said.

“In this situation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are beginning to launch consistent and systemic strikes at enterprises of the Ukrainian defence industry in Kyiv, including specific facilities for designing, manufacturing and programming drones and preparing them for operation.”

The ministry said that the strikes will “target decision-making centres and command posts” of the Ukrainian drone operation.

“Due to the fact that the above-mentioned facilities are scattered across Kyiv, we are notifying foreign citizens, including the personnel of diplomatic missions and international organisations, of the need to leave the city as soon as possible,” the ministry added, as well as urging residents of Kyiv not to approach military and administrative infrastructure.

Ukraine called the statement from Moscow “nothing short of shameless blackmail.”

“Moscow is effectively admitting that its shelling is aimed, among other things, at intimidating the foreign diplomatic corps. This admission will serve as valuable evidence in international legal proceedings against the aggressor state,” a May 25 statement from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said.

“To counter Russian intimidation, the MFA of Ukraine stands ready to assist in further strengthening the security of foreign diplomatic missions upon their request.”

The exchange of diplomatic barbs comes after Russia attacked Kyiv on May 24, using a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile, which killed at least two people and wounded at least 83 others in residential areas, near government buildings, and around the city center.

“The largest number of missiles was directed at the capital—at ordinary residential buildings, at schools; they burned down a food market, one of Kyiv’s oldest markets,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a statement.

The strike destroyed the Chernobyl Museum, and damaged the National Art Museum and a building used by Germany’s public broadcasting network, Zelenskyy added.

“My condolences to everyone who has lost family members and loved ones,” Zelenskyy wrote.

The attack marked the third time the Oreshnik, which is capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads, has been used in the four years of war.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the use of Oreshniks, stating that it had used the hypersonic missiles to hit Ukrainian “military control and command facilities.” The ministry stated that the attacks were in retaliation after Ukraine hit “civilian facilities on Russian territory.”

Russia and Ukraine have both denied deliberately targeting civilian populations.

As the war rages on, the United States has said it remains willing to mediate peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States “stands ready and prepared to help do whatever we can to help facilitate the end of this war, and hopefully the opportunity will present itself at some point.”

He made the comments after a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who, according to Russia’s Foreign Ministry, urged Washington to evacuate diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv

Rubio said on May 22 that, though there are no talks at the moment, he hoped the situation would change because the war “can only end with a negotiated settlement.”

“It will not end with a military victory by one side or the other, at least from a traditional standpoint of how military victories are defined,” he added.