Lavrov notifies Rubio of impending 'systematic strikes' on Kiev

RT
Mon, 25 May 2026 18:13 UTC

© Iori Sagisawa/Getty Images

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov

Moscow has vowed to strike military and government sites across the Ukrainian capital in retaliation for continuing "terrorist attacks"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warning him that long-range strikes against Kiev are imminent, while reiterating the "recommendation" that foreigners evacuate the Ukrainian capital immediately.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced a shift in Moscow's strategy in the Ukraine conflict, citing the recent deadly attack on a college dorm in the Russian town of Starobelsk, which killed at least 21 people, mainly teenage girls. The incident was the "last straw" for Moscow, which will now embark on a campaign of "systematic strikes" against the Ukrainian capital, targeting military-industrial facilities, command centers, and other sites dotting Kiev.

Russia's top diplomat conveyed the information to Rubio by direct order of President Vladimir Putin, the ministry said in a statement. Lavrov also drew his counterpart's attention to the "recommendation" issued by the Foreign Ministry in anticipation of the impending campaign, urging that all foreign nations, including the US, "ensure the evacuation of their diplomatic personnel and other citizens from the Ukrainian capital," it added.

Lavrov also reminded Rubio of the top-level understanding reached during the Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage last August, while expressing "regret" that the effort has been derailed by Kiev and its European backers. In addition to the Ukraine conflict, the two diplomats discussed the continuing crisis in the Middle East and the situation surrounding Cuba, the ministry said.

Moscow has long complained about the Ukrainian military launching indiscriminate strikes on civilian targets in Russia, branding them "terrorist attacks." Kiev has intensified its long-range drone and missile attacks in recent months. Six civilians were killed in Russia's Donetsk and Belgorod regions on Monday alone, according to local officials. The Russian military maintains that it never targets purely civilian sites in Ukraine and focuses on military or dual-use installations.

Comment: Ukrainian strikes continue deliberately killing six Russian civilians:

Attacks on the city of Gorlovka in the Donetsk People's Republic have claimed four lives, including of two minors in their early teens, Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said. Three ambulance workers were reportedly injured in the same attacks.

In Belgorod Region, a local resident was killed when a drone struck a car in the border municipality of Graivoron, the administration reported on Monday morning. The area has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian short-range attacks.

A separate strike in Bryansk Region hit two villages in the border municipality of Trubachevsk, acting Governor Yegor Kovalchuk said. Ukrainian forces used rocket artillery in the attack, killing one resident and injuring a firefighter, according to the official. Several apartment buildings, more than ten private homes, and other properties were damaged, he added.

Kamikaze drones were also intercepted near Yaroslavl, a city roughly 250 km northeast of Moscow, Governor Mikhail Yevraev reported. One woman suffered minor shrapnel wounds, he said. The raid forced authorities to temporarily close a highway linking Yaroslavl with the Russian capital.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 173 Ukrainian long-range drones over 14 Russian regions overnight.

Moscow has accused Kiev of deliberately targeting civilians. In a major incident last Friday, three waves of kamikaze drones struck a college in the town of Starobelsk, killing 21 people, most of them teenagers, and injuring 42 others.

Some Western countries backing Ukraine's war effort claimed that Moscow fabricated the attack in the Lugansk People's Republic, which Kiev considers part of Ukraine.

The Russian military later retaliated with strikes on targets in and around Kiev, including the launch of an Oreshnik medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile that reportedly hit a Ukrainian Air Force facility.

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