In one of the most alarming escalations of the Russia-Ukraine war in months, Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a stark warning on Monday, May 25, 2026 — urging all foreign nationals, diplomats, and international organization personnel to leave Kyiv immediately as Moscow declared the formal start of a campaign of "systematic strikes" against Ukraine's capital. The announcement came just one day after Russia launched one of its heaviest barrages on Kyiv since the 2022 full-scale invasion — deploying its most fearsome weapons yet, including the Oreshnik hypersonic missile.
What Russia Said: The Full Warning
"Under the current circumstances, the Russian Armed Forces are starting to launch systematic strikes against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in Kyiv," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The strikes will target both decision-making centres and command posts... We are warning foreign citizens, including personnel of diplomatic missions and international organisations, to leave the city as soon as possible."
Moscow said Kyiv's alleged deadly attack on a college dormitory in the Russian-occupied city of Starobilsk in Luhansk was "the last straw." The ministry stated the upcoming systematic strikes would target locations "where UAVs are designed, manufactured, programmed, and prepared for use," adding that the campaign would also affect "decision-making centres and command posts." The designated targets, Moscow noted, are spread all over Kyiv. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also directly urged the United States to evacuate diplomats from its embassy in Kyiv during a phone call on Monday.
The Weekend Barrage: Russia's Heaviest Attack in Months
Overnight, between Saturday and Sunday, Moscow launched around 90 missiles and more than 600 drones on Kyiv, in what officials described as one of the heaviest strikes to date. Ukrainian authorities said at least two people were killed and 87 injured as of Monday, while emergency services continued search-and-rescue operations across the capital. Ukraine's Recovery Ministry said it received nearly 1,000 applications for housing compensation in Kyiv following the weekend barrage, underscoring the scale of damage to residential areas and infrastructure.
Among the weapons Russia deployed was its Oreshnik hypersonic missile — capable of travelling 10 times the speed of sound and capable of carrying nuclear warheads, according to Moscow. The barrage came days after Russia accused Kyiv of striking a vocational school in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, killing 21 people, and Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to retaliate. It was confirmed as the third use of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik in the entire four-year war — a significant threshold that sent shockwaves through Western capitals.
Russia's Stated Justification: The Starobilsk Strike
Russia's Ministry of Defence said the campaign of strikes is formally a response to a Ukrainian drone attack that struck a student dormitory in Starobilsk in the occupied Luhansk region, killing at least 18 people. Ukraine has disputed Moscow's characterisation of the target, insisting it struck a military facility rather than a civilian educational building. Kyiv and its Western allies accuse Moscow of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure — a claim Russia repeatedly denies.
The pattern is well-established in the conflict's escalatory logic: Russia identifies a Ukrainian strike on Russian-occupied territory as a pretext for massively disproportionate retaliation against Kyiv — a cycle that has driven the war's most devastating episodes and that Western governments have struggled to interrupt diplomatically.
Zelenskyy's Warning: Oreshnik Was Coming
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned ahead of the weekend strikes that Russia was preparing to deploy the Oreshnik, citing intelligence gathered by Ukrainian authorities. The weekend barrage killed four people across Ukraine, wounded dozens, and caused damage across the capital. The exchange marks a significant new chapter in the conflict's cycle of retaliatory strikes, with Russia now explicitly framing its Kyiv campaign as a direct consequence of attacks on Russian-occupied territory.
Zelenskyy's forewarning proved accurate — and speaks to the sophisticated intelligence capabilities Ukraine has developed over four years of full-scale war. However, knowing an attack is coming and being able to fully intercept a barrage of 90 missiles and 600+ drones simultaneously tests the limits of even the most advanced air defence systems NATO has supplied to Ukraine.
What This Means for Kyiv and the War
Russia's formal declaration of "systematic strikes" — rather than discrete retaliatory barrages — represents a qualitative shift in Moscow's stated military posture toward the Ukrainian capital. It signals a deliberate attempt to make Kyiv ungovernable as a seat of wartime government and to drive out the foreign diplomatic presence that provides Ukraine with crucial political legitimacy on the world stage.
For live, continuously updated coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, including verified casualty counts, strike maps, and diplomatic developments, Al Jazeera's Ukraine war coverage hub provides comprehensive and real-time reporting from correspondents across the region.
As peace negotiations between the US and Russia remain stalled and Washington's attention has pivoted heavily toward the Iran war, Kyiv faces an increasingly dangerous combination: a more aggressive Russia on the battlefield and a less attentive superpower ally at the diplomatic table. Monday's warning from Moscow is a reminder that even as the world watches the Strait of Hormuz, the war in Ukraine is far from over — and may be entering one of its most destructive phases yet.