Russia told Kyiv-based diplomats and representatives of international organizations to prepare to evacuate the Ukrainian capital, saying its forces would launch a “massive” missile attack against the city if Ukraine disrupted its May 9 World War II commemorations.
The warning on May 6 came hours after a Russian drone hit a kindergarten in northern Ukraine and a day after Moscow launched scores of drones and missiles across the country, killing more than two dozen people.
In the note to foreign diplomatic missions, Russia warned that it forces would launch a “retaliatory strike” on the capital — “including against decision-making center” — if Kyiv disrupted the annual WWII ceremonies, which traditionally include a massive Victory Day parade through Moscow.
It urged foreign diplomats and officials in Ukraine to “ensure the timely evacuation of personnel from diplomatic and other missions, as well as citizens, from the city of Kyiv.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in a video posted on Telegram, urged foreign officials to take the warning seriously.
“The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly urges the authorities of your country, the leadership of your organization, to treat this statement with the utmost responsibility and ensure the timely evacuation from the city of Kyiv of the personnel of diplomatic and other representations in connection with the inevitability of a retaliatory strike on Kyiv by Russia’s Armed Forces,” Zakharova said.
Foreign embassies in the capital moved many diplomatic operations out of Kyiv, many to Lviv, and removed some nonessential personnel from Kyiv following Russia’s full-scale invasion of February 2022. Ukrainian officials say there are 85 foreign embassies now in the capital.
Marking Nazi Germany’s Defeat
The Russian holiday, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, has become a celebration of Soviet, and Russian, military might.
This year, however, the annual Red Square parade has been scaled back, amid fears of Ukrainian drones targeting the events. A small handful of foreign dignitaries will attend, and there will be no column of military weaponry or vehicles as usual.
The Kremlin this week declared a unilateral cease-fire with Ukraine for between May 8 and 9 to coincide with the WWII commemorations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that declaring a cease-fire to allow Moscow to celebrate its military was “not serious” and that the Kremlin feared having Ukrainian drones “buzz over Red Square.”
Zelenskyy countered by declaring a cease-fire for May 6, which Kyiv said Russia repeatedly violated. The Kremlin did not comment on the Ukrainian-proposed truce.
Among the violations, Ukrainian officials said, two people were killed at a kindergarten building in Sumy, in northern Ukraine, when the site was hit by a Russian drone. There were no children in the school at the time.
In total, Russia launched more than 110 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukrainian targets across the country overnight, Ukrainian officials said.
“This shows that Russia rejects peace and its fake calls for a cease-fire on May 9 have nothing to do with diplomacy,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said in a post to X. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin only cares about military parades, not human lives.”
For its part, Ukraine targeted a Russian weapons factory in a central region located more than 1,200 kilometers from the border, using its homegrown long-range cruise missile known as the Flamingo.
