Russia vows to continue attacks on Kyiv and calls on foreign diplomats to leave

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Moscow will continue “targeted retaliatory strikes” against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, in response to what it called Ukraine’s “terrorist acts” against civilians and civilian infrastructure, as Reuters reports in a dispatch by Lucy Papachristou.

In the same statement, Russian diplomats warned foreign nationals “once again”, including the staff of diplomatic missions, not to stay in Ukraine or travel to it. “Responsibility for any adverse consequences lies entirely with those who disregard this warning,” the Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.

The statement comes at a time when Russia has significantly escalated its campaign against infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital. Only today, Russian forces hit a bridge over the Dnipro River in Kyiv, while successive attacks have overturned the daily life of the capital’s roughly 3 million residents, on the eve of the harsh winter months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Ukraine is “paying” for its attacks on Russian territory, signalling open support for intensifying the operations. Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure, although the toll of the attacks shows the opposite for thousands of affected families.