Russia Threatens Systematic Strikes on Kyiv, Tells Foreign Nationals to Leave

Russia threatened more Kyiv strikes and told foreign nationals to leave, saying it would launch a fresh wave of "systematic strikes" against Kyiv and target "decision-making centres and command posts" alongside drone manufacturing facilities.

“Russia launches 'severe' and deadly missile attack on Kyiv, Zelenskyy says Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 600 drones and 90 missiles”

ABC News

The warning followed a weekend barrage that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said killed four and injured about 100 people in Kyiv and other areas, and it came as Russia said its threatened retaliation was in response to what it claims was a deliberate Ukrainian attack on a student dormitory in Starobilsk.

ABC News

Russia also confirmed it used its hypersonic Oreshnik missile, and Zelensky said it struck Bila Tserkva, 90km south of Kyiv, while the attack damaged or destroyed non-military targets including the Chernobyl Museum and the National Art Museum of Ukraine.

Ukraine said Russia’s threats were "nothing short of shameless blackmail" and urged allies to increase pressure on Moscow, as the BBC reported the government would face "one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Bangladesh in a decade"—a separate context not connected to the Kyiv strikes described in these accounts.

Russia’s warning to foreign citizens was paired with a call to evacuate, with the Russian foreign ministry saying it recommended the United States and other states with missions in Kyiv ensure the evacuation of their diplomatic personnel and other citizens.

In Ukraine’s response, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allies not to give in to "Russian blackmail," while France’s foreign ministry spokesperson said, "We're used to Putin's threats. It is out of the question to evacuate".

Al Jazeera

The BBC also reported that Moscow called for foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv "as soon as possible" and warned citizens to stay away from administrative and military buildings, framing the move as intimidation of the foreign diplomatic corps.

The Al Jazeera account added that Russia’s foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov advised US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the plan and urged him to evacuate US embassy staff from Kyiv, and it quoted Lavrov’s reported framing that the move was initiated in response to "the continuing terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime against the peaceful population and civilian sites on Russian territory."

The BBC described how Russia’s shelling has not ceased for virtually a single week since the start of the war, and it said the overall security threat posed by Moscow "remains the same as in previous years or months" even as Ukraine has developed a layered air defence system.

Ukraine’s vulnerability is tied to air defence shortages, with the BBC reporting that Zelensky warned in March that his country would face a deficit of such weapons due to the US and Israel's war with Iran.

After the weekend attack, the AP reported that Ukrainian air defenses destroyed and jammed 549 drones and 55 missiles, while around 19 missiles failed to reach targets, and it said the Oreshnik struck Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region.

The Guardian reported that Zelensky wrote on X that about 100 people had been injured across the country and four had died as a result of the Russian attack, and it quoted him saying, "Unfortunately, not all of the ballistic missiles were intercepted – the largest number of hits was in Kyiv."