(Kyiv, 26th) – Ukraine has urged its allies not to yield to “Russian blackmail”, while the head of the EU delegation in Kyiv stated that the 27 EU member states “will not leave.”
On Monday (May 25), the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov called US Secretary of State Rubio, under President Putin’s directive, to inform the US that Russia is conducting systematic and ongoing strikes on military facilities and related “decision-making centers” in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, and advised US diplomats and citizens to evacuate Kyiv.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha posted on Platform X: “We are discussing this with our partners. There is no need to yield to Russia's blackmail.”
The head of the EU delegation in Kyiv, Mashernova, also said on social media that Russia’s warnings are aimed at creating panic.
Mashernova wrote: “Russia wants to create fear and panic, and isolate Ukraine. But this will not work. The EU will not leave. We will remain in Kyiv. We will stand with Ukraine.”
A day earlier, Ukraine had just experienced a massive drone and missile attack by Russia. Russian forces also fired an “Oreshnik” medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile in the attack, resulting in two deaths and 91 injuries.
On the 25th, more than 70 foreign diplomats visited the Lukyanivka district, which suffered severe airstrikes by Russian forces, to pay their respects to the victims.
Moscow characterized the airstrikes on the 24th as retaliation, claiming they were in response to a recent Ukrainian drone attack on a university in Russia-occupied Luhansk oblast, which killed 21 students.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that Ukrainian forces attacked a Russian drone headquarters operating in Starobilsk, rejecting Russia’s claims that civilian facilities were hit.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said the Russian attacks on the 24th damaged about 300 sites in Kyiv, including the museum commemorating the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The museum has reopened after renovations.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha posted on Platform X: “We are discussing this with our partners. There is no need to yield to Russia's blackmail.”
The head of the EU delegation in Kyiv, Mashernova, also said on social media that Russia’s warnings are aimed at creating panic.
Mashernova wrote: “Russia wants to create fear and panic, and isolate Ukraine. But this will not work. The EU will not leave. We will remain in Kyiv. We will stand with Ukraine.”
A day earlier, Ukraine had just experienced a massive drone and missile attack by Russia. Russian forces also fired an “Oreshnik” medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile in the attack, resulting in two deaths and 91 injuries.
On the 25th, more than 70 foreign diplomats visited the Lukyanivka district, which suffered severe airstrikes by Russian forces, to pay their respects to the victims.
Moscow characterized the airstrikes on the 24th as retaliation, claiming they were in response to a recent Ukrainian drone attack on a university in Russia-occupied Luhansk oblast, which killed 21 students.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that Ukrainian forces attacked a Russian drone headquarters operating in Starobilsk, rejecting Russia’s claims that civilian facilities were hit.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said the Russian attacks on the 24th damaged about 300 sites in Kyiv, including the museum commemorating the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The museum has reopened after renovations.