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Russia said Monday it planned to launch more strikes on Kyiv, including on its “decision-making centres”, and repeated a call for foreign citizens and diplomats to leave the city.
Russia launched scores of drones and missiles at Ukraine over the weekend, killing four people, wounding dozens and causing damage across the Ukrainian capital.
Among the weapons Russia used was its Oreshnik hypersonic missile, which can travel 10 times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, according to Moscow. The barrage came days after Russia accused Kyiv of striking a vocational school in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region, killing 21 people.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to retaliate.
“Under the current circumstances, the Russian Armed Forces are starting to launch systematic strikes against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in Kyiv,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “The strikes will target both decision-making centres and command posts … We are warning foreign citizens, including personnel of diplomatic missions and international organisations, to leave the city as soon as possible,” it added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relayed the warning to US counterpart Marco Rubio in a phone call on Monday, urging him to evacuate US diplomats, Russia’s foreign ministry said. There was no immediate comment from the US side.
‘We are not going anywhere’
Russia had already called on foreign citizens and diplomats to evacuate Kyiv earlier this month, when it threatened massive strikes on central Kyiv if Ukraine disrupted a military parade on Red Square. Western diplomatic missions in the city have rebuffed both warnings.
A spokesperson for France’s foreign ministry said Monday: “We’re used to Putin’s threats. It is out of the question to evacuate”.
The European Union’s ambassador in Kyiv said on Facebook: “We are not going anywhere.” Ukraine described Russia’s threats as “rhetoric”.
“We are now telling our partners that they should not give in to all this Russian blackmail,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.
Russia launched its full-scale offensive on Ukraine in February 2022. The conflict has since spiralled into Europe’s deadliest since World War II.
US-led talks on ending the fighting have stalled in recent months due to conflict in the Middle East.
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