Russia has threatened a new wave of strikes on Kyiv, warning foreign nationals and diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital as tensions between Moscow and Kyiv spiral once again.
The warning came days after Russia launched one of the heaviest aerial assaults on Kyiv since the war began more than four years ago. Ukrainian officials said at least four people were killed and around 100 injured in strikes across the capital and other regions.
In a sharply worded statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said future attacks would focus on what it described as “decision-making centres”, military command posts and drone production facilities in Kyiv. It urged foreigners to avoid government and military sites and advised diplomats to leave the city “as soon as possible”.
Ukraine dismissed the remarks as intimidation.
“This is nothing short of shameless blackmail,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said. Officials in Kyiv accused Moscow of deliberately trying to frighten foreign diplomats and pressure Ukraine’s allies.
The exchange marks another dangerous escalation in a war that has increasingly centred on long-range drone and missile attacks far from the front lines.
Russia said the latest strikes were retaliation for what it claimed was a Ukrainian attack on a student dormitory in Starobilsk, in occupied eastern Ukraine. Russian-installed officials said 21 people were killed.
Ukraine denied targeting civilians. Its military said it had struck an elite Russian drone unit operating in the area.
Over recent weeks, Kyiv has endured repeated large-scale bombardments. Videos shared online showed explosions tearing through the night sky as air raid sirens echoed across the city. Residents described hours spent sheltering underground while waves of drones and missiles struck residential neighbourhoods and public buildings.
Among the sites damaged were the Chernobyl Museum and the National Art Museum of Ukraine. A shopping centre, market and several apartment blocks in the Lukianivka district were also hit.
Ukrainian officials said Russia fired dozens of cruise and ballistic missiles alongside hundreds of drones. Kyiv also accused Moscow of launching an Oreshnik hypersonic missile towards Bila Tserkva, a city south of the capital.
Despite the destruction, Ukraine’s air defences intercepted many incoming weapons. Still, officials acknowledge that Russia’s strategy increasingly relies on overwhelming those systems through sheer volume.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly warned that Ukraine remains heavily dependent on Western-supplied air defence missiles. Earlier this year, he said supplies could tighten because of growing military demands elsewhere, including in the Middle East.
The diplomatic pressure also intensified this week. Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and urged Washington to evacuate American diplomats from Kyiv.
After the call, Rubio renewed calls for an end to the war.
“Major strikes from either side are a reminder of why this is a terrible war,” he said. “It needs to come to an end.”
He added that the United States remained prepared to support efforts aimed at securing peace if an opportunity emerged.
For many in Kyiv, however, peace still feels distant. Residents have grown accustomed to nights interrupted by explosions, power outages and emergency alerts. Yet the latest warning from Moscow has unsettled even a population hardened by years of war.
Some analysts believe Russia’s message to foreign nationals is designed less as practical advice and more as psychological warfare, an attempt to deepen anxiety inside the capital and project the threat of even larger attacks to come.
What remains clear is that neither side is stepping back. As diplomacy stalls and missile strikes intensify, civilians continue to pay the highest price.
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