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Russia threatens Kiev with more attacks, tells foreign nationals to leave

2026-05-25 19:41:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russia has threatened to launch a new wave of "systematic attacks" against Kiev, days after carrying out one of its biggest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.

The new strikes will target "decision-making centers and command posts," along with drone production plants in the city, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Moscow has called on foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kiev "as soon as possible" and warned citizens to stay away from administrative and military buildings.

Large-scale Russian attacks on Saturday evening killed four people and injured about 100 others in Kiev and other areas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Moscow said the barrage and threats of further attacks were in response to what it claims was a deliberate Ukrainian attack on a student dormitory in the town of Starobilsk on Friday, in which Russian officials said 21 people were killed.

The Ukrainian military said its forces had struck an elite Russian military unit with drones in the area, in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, and had not targeted civilians.

Russia has launched several waves of deadly missile and drone attacks on Kiev since a brief ceasefire, coinciding with the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, expired earlier in May.

Shortly after, Russian attacks in Kiev killed 24 people, including three children, in an apartment block.

The city then suffered one of the largest airstrikes of the war on Saturday night.

Videos posted on social media showed explosions lighting up the sky throughout the night, and many Kiev residents reported explosions that shook the city, while many civilian targets were hit.

Russia used dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles and hundreds of drones to strike the capital, as well as firing a nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic missile in the Bila Tserkva area, 90 km south of Kiev.

Non-military targets such as the Chernobyl Museum in the historic district of Kiev and the National Art Museum of Ukraine were damaged or destroyed. A shopping mall, a market and several residential buildings in the Lukanivka area were also destroyed.

Many people are interpreting Russia's warning to foreign nationals to leave Kiev as a form of psychological pressure.

Russia already carries out large-scale attacks on the capital, and has done so since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But four and a half years of war have taught Ukraine to develop and reinforce a sophisticated, multi-pronged air defense system.
It now intercepts a large portion of drones and missiles — though Russia often shoots them down in such numbers that they overwhelm the air defenses, and many of them survive.

Ukraine also remains heavily dependent on foreign air defense systems for intercepting missiles.

In March, Zelensky warned that his country would face a deficit of such weapons due to the US and Israel's war with Iran.