Russia Threatens ‘Systematic Strikes’ on Kyiv, Urges Evacuation

According to Al Jazeera, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that 18 people were killed and 42 injured following Ukraine’s deadliest drone strike in Starobilsk.

“The Russian Armed Forces are beginning to conduct consistent and systematic attacks on Ukrainian defense industry enterprises in Kiev, including special facilities for designing, manufacturing, programming and preparing for operation unmanned aerial vehicles. The Kiev regime is deploying these unmanned aerial vehicles with the help of NATO experts who supply components and provide reconnaissance and target acquisition data,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The ministry urged foreign nationals to leave Kiev and advised residents to stay away from military and administrative infrastructure.

The statement said, “Since these facilities are scattered all over Kiev, we inform foreign citizens, including staff of diplomatic missions and international organizations, that they should leave the city as soon as possible. We call on residents of the Ukrainian capital not to approach facilities belonging to the military and administrative infrastructure of the Zelensky regime.”

Kiev has significantly expanded its drone warfare capabilities in recent months and has reported successful attacks on Russian targets, particularly energy infrastructure.

According to Al Jazeera, Moscow, which launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago and considered four regions in eastern Ukraine as its own, defined the attacks as “terrorism” and responded with large-scale missile and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks.

Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov conveyed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that in response to Kiev’s attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure on Russian territory, Russian Armed Forces will carry out “systematic and consistent attacks” on facilities used by the Ukrainian army in Kiev, as well as “relevant decision-making centers”, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that there was a “supply shortage” in Ukraine’s anti-ballistic defense capabilities and said Kiev was working with European partners to ensure sufficient quantities.

“We are working with all our partners on the air defense of Ukraine; this is the first priority. Anti-ballistic capabilities are now insufficient worldwide due to the war with Iran, but we must seek solutions,” Zelenskyy said.

“We are trying to accelerate work in Europe to produce sufficient quantities of our own anti-ballistic capabilities on the continent. We will also continue our contacts regarding the ability of the United States to support Ukraine,” he added.