New “strikes will be carried out on decision-making centers” and “companies of the military-industrial complex” in kyiv, warned the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release, without giving a precise time frame before these attacks.
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“We warn foreign nationals, including staff of diplomatic missions and representations of international organizations, of the need to leave the city as soon as possible, and residents of the Ukrainian capital not to approach military and administrative infrastructure,” he added.
The head of Russian diplomacy Sergey Lavrov on Monday urged the United States to evacuate its embassy in kyiv during a telephone conversation with American Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He “drawn attention” to this statement from his ministry “recommending the United States, as well as other states with missions in kyiv, to ensure the evacuation of their diplomatic personnel and their nationals from the Ukrainian capital,” said the press release from the Russian ministry.
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Russian blackmail
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Andriï Sybiga, called on kyiv’s partners “not to give in to Russian blackmail” and to provide more aid and weapons to Ukraine.
France, for its part, brushed aside the Russian warning. “We are used to Putin’s threats. There is no question of evacuating” our diplomats, commented the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, questioned by journalists.
Russian diplomacy mentions in its press release the strike by Ukrainian drones which targeted the dormitory of a high school in Starobilsk (Starobelsk in Russian), in the Lugansk region occupied by Moscow in eastern Ukraine, during the night from Thursday to Friday.
According to Moscow, this strike destroyed a dormitory where dozens of teenagers were sleeping, killing 21 people and injuring more than 40 others.
This “bloody” and “deliberate” attack is “the straw that breaks the camel’s back”, justified the Russian ministry.
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The Ukrainian army general staff said its forces had bombed several Russian military sites that night, including a “headquarters” of a unit located “in the zone” of Starobilsk.
The Russian press, for its part, published the testimonies of survivors and relatives of the teenagers killed in this attack.
Russia had already called on foreign diplomatic personnel to leave the Ukrainian capital before the May 9 parade on Red Square in Moscow, threatening Ukraine with reprisals if it disrupted the commemorations of the victory over Nazi Germany.
American President Donald Trump then announced at the last minute a temporary ceasefire between the two countries.
