Russian media reported on Monday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and informed him that Russia will begin “systematic strikes” against the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv that will target “military sites and decision-making centers.”
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Lavrov said the attacks were a response to “continued attacks against civilian population and infrastructure in Russia.” The Russian Foreign Ministry also issued a warning and said the attacks were a response to the May 22 Ukrainian drone attack that hit a college in Starobelsk in the Luhansk Oblast, killing 21 people.
The ministry said the attack was the “last straw” and that the attacks on Kyiv would target the “Ukrainian military-industrial complex,” including facilities where drones are made that are used by the Ukrainian military “with the assistance of NATO specialists responsible for supplying components, providing intelligence.”
Media reports have previously revealed that Ukraine relies on intelligence from the US and NATO to launch its long-range drone attacks inside Russia, meaning the attacks always risk an escalation between Russia and NATO countries.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said it was warning “foreign citizens, including diplomatic mission and international organization representative office personnel, of the need to leave the city as soon as possible. We also warn Ukrainian capital residents not to approach Zelensky’s regime’s military and administrative infrastructure facilities.”
Russia already launched a major drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital and its surrounding regions on Sunday, which killed at least four people, according to Ukrainian officials. The Russian Defense Ministry said the barrage involved strikes using Russia’s advanced missiles, including the new Oreshnik hypersonic missile.
The escalation of the more than four-year-old war comes as there’s no sign of progress in negotiations to end the conflict, as the Russian and Ukrainian sides remain far apart on demands to end the conflict. One of Russia’s main demands is that Ukraine cede what territory it still controls in the Donbas, something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to do.
