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Russia has threatened to launch "consistent and systematic strikes" on Ukraine's defence infrastructure in Kyiv and advised foreign citizens to leave the city.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement warning after Ukraine's deadliest drone strike in Starobilsk, in which 18 people were killed and 42 others wounded, as per Al Jazeera. "Russia's Armed Forces are beginning to launch consistent and systemic strikes on Ukrainian defence industry enterprises in Kyiv, including specific facilities for designing, manufacturing and programming drones and preparing them for operation. The Kyiv regime deploys these drones with the help of NATO specialists who supply components, provide reconnaissance and target acquisition data," the Foreign Ministry said. MFA urged foreign nationals to leave the city and citizens not to approach the facilities of the military and administrative infrastructure. "As these facilities are scattered across Kyiv, we notify foreign citizens, including the personnel of diplomatic missions and international organisations, of the need to leave the city as soon as possible. We urge residents of the Ukrainian capital not to approach facilities of the military and administrative infrastructure of the Zelensky regime," they said. Kyiv has significantly enhanced its drone warfare capabilities in recent months, reporting notable success in striking Russian targets, particularly energy infrastructure. Moscow, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago and claims four eastern Ukrainian regions as its own, has described these attacks as "terrorism" and has responded with large-scale missile and drone strikes, Al Jazeera reported. Additionally, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also officially conveyed to the US State Secretary Marco Rubio that, in response to the Kyiv's attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure on Russian territory, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are launching systematic and consistent strikes against facilities located in Kiev that are used for the needs of the Ukrainian military, as well as against the relevant decision-making centres, Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has flagged "short supply of Kyiv's anti-ballistic capabilities". He said that Ukraine is working with European partners to have sufficient quantities. "We are working with all our partners on air defence for Ukraine - this is the first priority. Anti-ballistic capabilities are now in short supply globally because of the war with Iran, but we must look for solutions," he said. "We are trying to accelerate work in Europe on producing our own anti-ballistic capabilities on the continent in sufficient quantities. We will also continue engaging with the United States regarding its ability to support Ukraine," he added. (ANI)
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