Russia has issued a chilling warning to foreign diplomats and citizens to leave Kyiv ahead of a possible massive missile strike by Vladimir Putin. The attack will swiftly follow any Ukrainian bid to disrupt the Kremlin dictator’s military parade in Moscow on Saturday.
It is the second official warning of a monumental strike on Kyiv amid speculation Putin could deploy Oreshnik missiles with conventional warheads that could cause nuclear-scale devastation. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zhakharova warned Western and other states “to ensure the timely evacuation from the city of Kyiv of personnel from diplomatic and other missions, as well as citizens.” They should take “very, very seriously” the defence ministry’s threat of the inevitability of a retaliatory strike by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on Kyiv, including against decision-making centres, should the Kyiv regime carry out its criminal terrorist plans….”
She said the warning “must not be ignored”, claiming Russian was acting after a threat by Volodymyr Zelensky to send his drones to the May 9 military parade on Red Square, an annual event marking the anniversary of the end of World War 2.
Zelensky accused Putin of ignoring his ceasefire proposal and instead doubling down on attacks on Ukraine.
He accused Putin of being the “one person in Moscow who cannot live without war” and “only interested in a parade and nothing else”.
The Kremlin’s need for Kyiv drones to stay clear of Moscow on Saturday showed “Russia has been at war to the point that even their main parade now depends on us”.
Ukraine fired at least 347 drones at Russia overnight and more were targeted after first light. They hit at least 21 regions and were shot down over three seas – the Azov, Black and Caspian.
A major military facility in Naro-Fominsk, Moscow region, was reportedly ablaze, after the failure of Putin’s air defences.
The Nara production and logistics complex is a large-scale, high-tech military site.
A wave of Ukrainian strikes targeted major Black Sea resort Sochi.
There was air chaos in multiple regions including Moscow, where Vnukovo airport was closed.
In the Urals, three major cities – Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Perm – were forced to shut down airports temporarily due to drone attacks.
In a blow to Putin, a total of 15 cities and regions have cancelled Victory Day military parades on Saturday due to the threats of Ukrainian attacks – Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Krasnodar, Leningrad region, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Pskov, Ryazan, Saratov, Rostov, Kaluga, Oryol, Bryansk and Chuvashia.
Ukraine struck Russian city Bryansk, where 13 were reported injured. Russia hit Dnipro and the border region Sumy.
