Russia threatens Kyiv with fresh wave of strikes and tells foreign visitors and diplomats to leave Ukraine's capital 'as soon as possible'

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:35, 25 May 2026 | Updated: 20:36, 25 May 2026 Russia has threatened to launch more 'systematic strikes' on Kyiv, just days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on Ukraine's capital since the start of the invasion. Russia's foreign ministry threatened to target 'decision-making centres and command posts', as well as drone-making facilities, in the city. It has called on foreign nationals and diplomats in Kyiv to leave 'as soon as possible', warning civilians to stay away from government and military buildings. The US was warned to pull its diplomats from its Kyiv embassy, with Russian foreign ministry Sergei Lavrov telling US secretary of state Marco Rubio about its plans to strike the city.  The ministry today said: 'Sergei Lavrov drew attention to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement from May 25, which recommended that the United States, along with other states with missions in Kyiv, ensure the evacuation of their diplomatic personnel and other citizens from the Ukrainian capital.' Ukraine has dismissed these threats as Russian 'rhetoric.' The country's foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said: 'We are now telling our partners that they should not give in to all this Russian blackmail.' Over the weekend, Russian strikes on Ukraine's capital brutally killed four and injured around 100, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. A trade center burns after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026 Smoke rises above Kyiv during a Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital on May 24, 2026 Local residents walk by a damaged shopping center following Russian strikes in Kyiv on May 25, 2026 Moscow claimed that these strikes, and possible future attacks, were carried out in response to what it claims was a deliberate attack on a student dormitory in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Starobilsk on Friday. The Kremlin claimed that 21 people were killed in that attack and that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to retaliate. But Ukraine's military said it had struck an elite Russian drone unit in the area and had not targeted civilians.  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. A spokesperson for France's foreign ministry said: 'We're used to Putin's threats. It is out of the question to evacuate' French diplomats. Today, Russian attacks killed four people and wounded more than a dozen others in eastern Ukraine, local authorities said. An attack on the town of Dergachi in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region killed two men aged 68 and 25 and wounded almost two dozen others, the region's governor Oleg Synegubov said. Russian forces occupied swathes of the Kharkiv border region when they invaded in 2022, but were pushed back months later in a Ukrainian offensive that embarrassed the Kremlin. A separate attack on Kramatorsk in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region killed two people, the city's mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko said on Facebook. Russia launched its full-scale offensive on Ukraine in February 2022. The conflict has since spiralled into Europe's deadliest since World War II. Since then, Ukraine has been trying to garner more support to push Putin's forces back.  Ukrainian air defence firing at Russian drones above Kyiv during a Russian drone and missile strike on the Ukrainian capital on May 24, 2026 A boy plays the accordion in front of a shopping center damaged by Russian strikes in Kyiv on May 25, 2026 It has been trying to lobby the US into expanding missile production, to no avail.   Zelensky admitted on Monday that Ukraine had made little progress in talks with the United States on expanding production of missile defences and was working with Europe to solve the matter. 'Unfortunately, there has been no progress for a long time with America regarding the expansion of anti-ballistic missile production,' he said.  'We are trying to accelerate this work in Europe, the production of our own anti-ballistic systems on the continent in sufficient quantities.' Zelensky said Ukraine was continuing to talk to the United States on how it can help Ukraine and US leadership was vital. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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