Smoke rises following overnight Russian strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, amid the Russian invasion. More than 600 drones and 90 missiles struck several sites across Kyiv overnight on Sunday, resulting in multiple deaths and more than 80 injuries, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo by Sergey Dolzenko/EPA
The European Union summoned Russia’s top diplomat in Brussels Tuesday after Russia warned foreign citizens and diplomats to evacuate Kyiv as the country prepares for renewed strikes on Ukraine’s capital.
“Russia’s threat to foreign citizens & diplomats to leave Kyiv is an unacceptable escalation. @eu_eeas summoned the Chargé d’Affairs, calling to stop hitting civilians & [for Russia] to engage in genuine peace talks starting with a full and unconditional cease-fire. @EUDelegationUA stays in Kyiv,” said EU Spokesperson Anitta Hipper in a statement posted on X Tuesday.
The warning comes after a Ukraine drone hit a Russian dormitory Friday night killing at least 18 in Starobilsk in the Luhansk region. Ukraine’s military said it hit a military drone unit target.
On Saturday night, Russia attacked Kyiv, killing at least four people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday. The attacks caused damage to residential buildings, schools, a water supply facility, a market, an opera house and a museum.
Russia said Monday that it would begin “systematic strikes” on Ukraine’s military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and on “decision-making centers.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Secretary of State Marco Rubio via phone soon after the announcement that Washington should evacuate diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the Kremlin said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow’s warnings were “shameless blackmail,” and said the threats would not intimidate Western diplomats.
EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova insisted Western missions would stay. In a Facebook post on Monday, she wrote: “Russia threatens diplomats and foreigners again, asking us to leave Kyiv. But we are not going anywhere!
“Today’s statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a masterpiece of hypocrisy.
“A regime that has spent years bombing residential buildings, museums, maternity wards, schools and power stations now suddenly speaks the language of ‘international humanitarian law’ and ‘Geneva conventions.’
“We are staying in Kyiv. We are staying with Ukraine,” she said of the EU. “Threats against diplomats and international organizations are not a sign of strength. They are a sign of desperation.”
