Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it has warned diplomatic missions to promptly evacuate their staff from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in case Moscow launches a mass strike on the city in response to potential Ukrainian attempts to disrupt Russia’s May 9 Victory Day commemorations.

In a video posted on Telegram on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged diplomats to heed the Defence Ministry’s warning of a strike, issued on Monday, in the event of a Ukrainian attack during the commemorations of the Soviet Union’s victory against Nazi Germany in World War II and a military parade in Red Square.

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“The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly urges the authorities of your country, the leadership of your organisation, to treat this statement with the utmost responsibility and ensure the timely evacuation from the city of Kyiv of the personnel of diplomatic and other representations in connection with the inevitability of a retaliatory strike on Kyiv by Russia’s Armed Forces,” Zakharova said.

Zakharova said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made “aggressive and threatening statements” about disrupting the commemorations at a meeting of the European Political Community in Armenia on Monday.

“Several EU countries were present,” she said. “None of them reprimanded the ringleader of the Kyiv regime.”

‘This is telling’

In his remarks in Armenia, Zelenskyy noted a Russian announcement that the commemorations were being scaled down and taking place without military hardware for security reasons.

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“It will be the first time in many, many years they cannot afford military equipment, and they fear drones may buzz over Red Square. This is telling,” he said.

Writing on X on Thursday morning, Zelenskyy said Russia was redeploying air defences from its regions to around Moscow in preparation for the May 9 military parade and suggested that the move creates space for more Ukrainian long-range attacks.

“This indicates that the Russian leadership is not preparing for the ceasefire that has been the subject of so many statements, and is more concerned about its parade in Moscow than about the rest of Russia,” Zelenskyy said.

“At the same time, we observe that this creates additional opportunities for our long-range sanctions. We will define our corresponding priorities,” he added.

Meanwhile, both countries announced competing ceasefires before the event. Both sides have accused each other of breaching the unilateral ceasefire announced by Ukraine for May 6. Russia offered its own temporary truce for its Victory Day celebrations on May 9.