Foreigners Urged to Leave Kyiv After Russian Threat

Russia has warned it could launch a new wave of strikes on Kyiv, days after carrying out one of the largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the war began.

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Russia’s foreign ministry said future attacks would target “decision-making centres and command posts”, as well as drone production facilities in Kyiv. Moscow also urged foreign nationals and diplomats to leave the city “as soon as possible” and advised people to avoid military and administrative sites.

The warning followed large-scale Russian missile and drone attacks overnight on Saturday, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said killed four people and injured around 100 others in Kyiv and surrounding areas.

Claims over Starobilsk attack

Moscow said the strikes were retaliation for what it described as a deliberate Ukrainian attack on a student dormitory in Starobilsk, a Russian-occupied town in eastern Ukraine. Russian officials said 21 people were killed in the incident on Friday.

Ukraine’s military said it had targeted an elite Russian drone unit operating in the area and denied attacking civilians.

Russia has intensified aerial assaults on Kyiv since a short ceasefire linked to Moscow’s Victory Day celebrations ended earlier this month.

In another recent strike, Russian attacks on the capital killed 24 people, including three children, after a residential apartment block was hit.

Escalating aerial attacks

Days later, Russian authorities reported that three people were killed in a major Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region. Zelensky described those strikes as an “entirely justified” response to repeated Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Kyiv then came under one of the heaviest aerial bombardments of the war overnight on Saturday.

Videos shared online showed explosions across the skyline throughout the night, while residents reported repeated blasts as civilian areas were struck.

Ukraine said Russia launched dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles alongside hundreds of drones. Moscow also fired an Oreshnik hypersonic missile towards Bila Tserkva, a city about 90km south of Kyiv. The missile is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Several non-military sites were damaged, including the Chernobyl Museum and the National Art Museum of Ukraine. A shopping centre, market and residential buildings in the Lukanivka district were also destroyed.

Diplomatic pressure and air defence concerns

On Monday evening, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to evacuate American diplomats from Kyiv during a phone call, according to Russia’s foreign ministry.

Many observers view Russia’s warning to foreign nationals as psychological pressure rather than a sign of a major policy shift, as Moscow has repeatedly targeted Kyiv since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022.

Over the course of the war, Ukraine has built a more advanced air defence network capable of intercepting many incoming drones and missiles. However, Russian attacks often involve such large numbers of weapons that some penetrate the defences.

Ukraine also relies heavily on foreign-supplied air defence systems. In March, Zelensky warned that supplies could become strained because of military demands linked to the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 26 May 2026