Russia again called on diplomats and foreign citizens in Kiev today to leave the Ukrainian capital and warned that its armed forces will continue to carry out “massive retaliatory strikes“ on military targets in the city and other parts of Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
The warning was issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which repeated a similar call in May. “Responsibility for possible negative consequences falls entirely on those who ignore this warning“, the ministry said in a statement.
Moscow's previous similar call was not followed by Western diplomatic missions supporting Ukraine. At the time, about 50 countries at the UN described the Russian statements as “threats“ against diplomats in Kiev.
The Ukrainian capital has been the target of almost daily drone attacks in recent weeks, including by jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles, which are more difficult to intercept. This comes at a time when Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of air defense assets, AFP notes.
This morning, the Northern Bridge in Kiev - one of eight structures over the Dnieper River - was hit by a Russian strike, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitali Klitschko, reported on Telegram. According to him, the road surface and the trolleybus contact network were damaged. Traffic on the bridge from the left to the right bank of the Dnieper was stopped.
On Thursday and Friday, the Southern Bridge was hit several times by Russian drones. Its closure caused serious traffic jams in the city of about three million inhabitants.
According to AFP, these are the first significant attacks on major bridges in Kiev since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022. Ukrainian authorities have long feared that such infrastructure facilities could become targets.
Klitschko described the situation in the capital yesterday as “extremely dramatic“ and accused Moscow of systematically attacking the city's infrastructure and logistics.
In recent months, both Russia and Ukraine have significantly increased their strikes with long-range weapons, with the number of civilian casualties increasing. In Kiev, air raids are sounding almost constantly due to the intensified Russian attacks, AFP points out.
The Russian strikes have also caused serious damage to the Ukrainian metallurgical sector and led to the suspension of a significant part of the export of agricultural products via the Black Sea. Among the targets in Ukraine were also gas stations, shopping malls, data centers and telecommunications infrastructure.
Ukraine, in turn, attacked Russian oil refineries and fuel depots, which contributed to fuel shortages in Russia over the summer. Among the targets of Ukrainian strikes were also warehouses of major Russian e-commerce companies “Wildberries“ and “Ozon“.
After a fruitless, according to AFP, “40-day“ operation aimed at putting pressure on the Russian economy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly proposed ending or limiting mutual long-range strikes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected such an idea on Thursday.
“They tell us: “They should stop hitting your refineries, and you should stop hitting their ships“. This is simply ridiculous,” Putin said during the Valdai political forum.
Fear is also growing in Kiev about the upcoming winter, when Ukraine’s energy infrastructure could once again become a major target for Russian strikes.
In the winter of 2025, Russia inflicted severe damage on Ukrainian power plants, which periodically left millions of people without electricity and heating in very low temperatures.
“Ukrainians realize that this winter could be very difficult for us. But in response, we will have no choice but to make it difficult for Russia as well,” Zelensky said from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly in late September.
Source: www.bta.bg