Russia has threatened to launch a fresh wave of “systematic strikes” against Kyiv, days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.
The new strikes will target “decision-making centres and command posts”, alongside drone manufacturing facilities in the city, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Moscow has called for foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv “as soon as possible” and warned citizens to stay away from administrative and military buildings.
Large-scale Russian strikes on Saturday night killed four and injured about 100 people in Kyiv and other areas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukraine’s military said its forces had struck an elite Russian military drone unit in the area, in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, and had not targeted civilians.
Russia has launched several waves of deadly missile and drone attacks on Kyiv since a brief ceasefire, that coincided with Moscow’s annual Victory Day parade, expired earlier in May.
Shortly after that, Russian strikes on Kyiv killed 24 people, including three children, in a block of flats.
Days later, Russian officials said three people were killed in a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region, with Zelensky saying the strikes were an “entirely justified” response to deadly Russian attacks.
Kyiv then suffered one of the biggest aerial assaults of the war overnight on Saturday.
Videos posted on social media showed explosions lighting up the sky throughout the night, and many Kyiv residents reported blasts rocking the city as numerous civilian targets were hit.
Russia employed dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles and hundreds of drones to hit the capital, as well as firing a hypersonic, nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile on the area of Bila Tserkva, 90km south of Kyiv.
Non-military targets such as the Chernobyl Museum in Kyiv’s historic district and the National Art Museum of Ukraine were damaged or destroyed. A shopping centre, a market and several residential buildings in the area of Lukanivka were also destroyed.
Many are interpreting Russia’s warning for foreign nationals to leave Kyiv as a form of psychological pressure.
Russia already carries out large-scale strikes on the capital, and has done so since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
But four and a half years of war have taught Ukraine to develop and ramp up a sophisticated and layered air defence system.
It now intercepts a vast proportion of drones and missiles – although Russia often fires them in such great numbers they overwhelmed air defences and many do get through.
Ukraine also remains heavily dependent on foreign air defence systems for missile interception.
In March, Zelensky warned that his country would face a deficit of such weapons due to the US and Israel’s war with Iran.
