Moscow: Russia has warned foreign citizens to leave Kyiv as it prepares what it calls a “series of systematic strikes” on defence‑industrial facilities in the Ukrainian capital, escalating rhetoric after a deadly drone attack on a student dormitory in the occupied Luhansk region.
In a statement issued by the Defence Ministry, Moscow said the planned strikes were in response to a Ukrainian drone attack last week that hit a student dorm in Starobilsk, killing at least 18 people and injuring 42, as reported by Al Jazeera.
The Russian side described the dorm strike as “the last straw,” arguing that Kyiv’s continued drone operations against Russian‑held territory and civilian sites now justify a series of “systematic strikes” targeting sites where unmanned aerial vehicles are “designed, manufactured, programmed, and prepared for use.”
Noting that such facilities “are scattered throughout Kyiv,” the Foreign Ministry warning called on “foreign citizens, including personnel of diplomatic missions and international organisations, to leave the city as soon as possible,” while also urging Kyiv residents to avoid approaching military and administrative infrastructure facilities.
Lavrov Notifies US, Terms Attacks ‘Terrorism’
A later Foreign Ministry statement said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of Russia’s plan and urged Washington to evacuate US embassy staff from Kyiv. Lavrov reportedly told Rubio over telephone that the operation was initiated “in response to the continuing terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime against the peaceful population and civilian sites on Russian territory,” framing Kyiv’s drone campaign as a pattern of “terror and murder.”
The ministry branded the Starobilsk dorm strike a “flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law” and “yet another blatant demonstration of t
he Nazi and terrorist nature of the Kyiv regime, which deliberately attacks civilians and does not hesitate to murder children in cold blood.”
Kyiv Rejects Blame For Dorm Attack
Ukraine’s military has denied responsibility for the strike on the student dorm, asserting that its target was an elite drone command unit. Commenting on Moscow’s threat and call for foreigners to leave Kyiv, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allies not to give in to “Russian blackmail,” insisting that the Kremlin’s escalation is aimed at undermining international support for Ukraine.
More than 70 foreign diplomats visited a heavily damaged neighbourhood in Kyiv on Monday to pay their respects to the victims of the recent strikes despite the risk.
French Ambassador Gael Veyssiere observed that ordinary people had returned to work and daily routines, saying, “It’s a way to demonstrate resilience and I think it’s extremely important that we, around the world, would support that.”
Strikes Beyond Kyiv
Despite diplomatic show of solidarity, the threat appears far from idle. Russia has heavily targeted Kyiv and its surrounding areas with large‑scale missile and drone barrages since the Starobilsk dorm attack.
Ukrainian authorities reported that overnight strikes on the capital and nearby regions killed at least four people and wounded more than 60. Russia confirmed it had used an Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile in one of the operations, marking the third time the nuclear‑capable weapon has been deployed in Moscow’s four‑year war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials also reported that strikes killed several people in the eastern Kharkiv and Donetsk regions on Monday, underlining the widening toll of the intensified campaign.
Moscow has long accused Ukraine of using drones to carry out “terrorist” attacks on Russian cities and occupied territories, while Kyiv has dramatically ramped up drone warfare in recent months hitting Russian energy infrastructure and military production facilities.
Earlier this month, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy maintained that such strikes on Russia’s oil industry and arms‑production sites are “entirely justified” following a Russian attack that flattened an apartment block in Kyiv, killing at least 24 people.