Russia pressures U.S., Ukraine’s allies to flee Kyiv, threatening ‘systematic strikes’

War in UkraineRussia pressures U.S., Ukraine’s allies to flee Kyiv, threatening ‘systematic strikes’The warning came just days after the Ukrainian capital faced one of the heaviest bombardments since the start of the Russian invasion.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the site of a heavily damaged building following Russian strikes on Kyiv on Sunday.Vladyslav Musienko / AFP via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 26, 2026, 11:46 AM EDTBy Yuliya Talmazan and Anastasiia ParafeniukAbandon the Ukrainian capital or risk being hit in a new and intense wave of attacks.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.That is the warning Russia has issued the United States and other countries with diplomats in Kyiv, urging them to flee or face what it called “systematic strikes” on the Ukrainian capital.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he received a personal warning to that effect from his Russian counterpart and offered Washington’s renewed mediation in stalled talks to end the war.European countries rejected the Kremlin’s call to leave Kyiv, vowing to stay put and framing the threat as a “sign of desperation.” Some summoned Russian ambassadors in protest. But this threatened escalation follows a weekend bombardment that was perhaps the heaviest faced by the city since the start of the four-year war — including the use of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile.The new warning left many residents on edge. Lesia Homiak’s apartment shook when a missile hit within some 20 yards of her building in the city’s historic Podil district overnight Sunday. Homiak, 31, said she ran into the basement with her partner, Andriy Klen, to seek shelter. “I have never felt anything like that in my life,” Homiak told NBC News on the phone from Kyiv.“We came back and saw total carnage,” said Homiak, who works as an account manager at an IT company. Her apartment is now in need of major...