Russia has issued a stark caution to foreign diplomats and citizens in anticipation of a possible missile attack. The warning specifies that an assault on Kyiv will be triggered if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day military parade in Moscow on Saturday.
This marks the second official notification of a significant strike on Kyiv. There are concerns that Putin might deploy Oreshnik missiles armed with conventional warheads, which Russia claims could result in nuclear-scale devastation.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zhakharova has advised Western and other nations to promptly evacuate their personnel from diplomatic and other missions, along with citizens, from Kyiv. The defense ministry’s threat of a retaliatory strike on Kyiv, targeting decision-making centers, should the Kyiv regime proceed with its “criminal terrorist plans,” should be taken very seriously, she added.
Zhakharova emphasized that this warning should not be disregarded, attributing Russia’s actions to a threat by Volodymyr Zelensky to dispatch drones to the May 9 military parade on Red Square, a yearly event commemorating the end of World War II.
Zelensky has accused Putin of rejecting a ceasefire proposal ahead of the parade and intensifying attacks on Ukraine. He labeled Putin as the individual in Moscow who thrives on war and is solely focused on the parade. Zelensky remarked that the Kremlin’s insistence on keeping Kyiv’s drones away from Moscow on Saturday indicates that Russia’s dependence on the ongoing conflict has even impacted their main parade.
Ukraine launched approximately 347 drones at Russia overnight and continued to target more after daybreak, hitting at least 21 regions and being intercepted over the Azov, Black, and Caspian Seas.
Reports suggest that a major military facility in Naro-Fominsk, Moscow region, was engulfed in flames following the failure of Putin’s air defenses. The Nara production and logistics complex is a substantial, technologically advanced military installation.
Ukrainian strikes focused on the major Black Sea resort of Sochi, causing air disruptions in several regions, including the closure of Vnukovo airport in Moscow. In the Urals, airports in Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, and Perm were temporarily shut down due to drone attacks.
In response to the Ukrainian threats, a total of 15 cities and regions in Russia canceled their Victory Day military parades on Saturday, including Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Krasnodar, Leningrad region, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Pskov, Ryazan, Saratov, Rostov, Kaluga, Oryol, Bryansk, and Chuvashia.
During the conflict, Ukraine targeted the Russian city of Bryansk, resulting in 13 reported injuries, while Russia struck Dnipro and the border region of Sumy.