Missile and Drone Strikes Kill at Least Eight as Russia Threatens Major Escalation on Kyiv

Kuala Lumpur — A fresh wave of missile and drone attacks across Russia and Ukraine has left at least eight people dead, as Russia announced plans for systematic strikes on Ukrainian military targets in Kyiv and urged all foreigners to evacuate the capital immediately.

The escalation comes just one day after Russia carried out one of its heaviest bombardments on Kyiv since the start of the full-scale war. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov informed the U.S. Secretary of State that the upcoming strikes are a direct response to alleged Ukrainian “terrorist attacks” on Russian civilians. Moscow has specifically warned it will target facilities used by Ukraine’s armed forces and key decision-making centers in the capital.

In a separate statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on diplomats and foreign nationals to leave Kyiv “as quickly as possible.”

Ukrainian officials have strongly rejected the threats. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described Russia’s warning as “blackmail” and urged Ukraine’s allies not to yield. The head of the EU mission in Kyiv, Katarina Mathernova, dismissed the move as an attempt to create panic, stating firmly: “The EU is not going anywhere. We are staying in Kyiv. We are staying with Ukraine.”

Heavy Toll on Both Sides

Sunday’s Russian strikes on Kyiv killed two people and injured 91 others, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reporting damage to around 300 sites, including a newly opened museum dedicated to the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster. Russia also fired an Oreshnik hypersonic missile near the capital — only the third use of the nuclear-capable weapon during the conflict.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian strikes inside Russia and Russian-occupied areas continued:

• In Russia’s Belgorod region, one man was killed and another injured in a combined missile and drone attack that also disrupted power and water supplies.
• In Russian-controlled parts of Donetsk region, seven people were reportedly killed, including a family of four whose car was hit in Horlivka.
• In Ukrainian-held territory, two people were killed and 16 wounded in Kherson region.
• Two more civilians died and over 20 were injured in a missile strike on Derhachi near Kharkiv.
• One person was killed in Odesa, while 14 others were wounded in Dnipropetrovsk region after a drone hit a residential building in Pavlohrad.

Both sides continue to deny deliberately targeting civilians.

The latest violence highlights the failure of U.S. mediation efforts to bring the conflict to an end. Zelenskiy noted limited progress in securing expanded anti-missile defense production from the United States and said Ukraine is awaiting new diplomatic initiatives from Washington.

As tensions rise, Ukraine is reportedly preparing to send reinforcements to its northern regions in anticipation of a possible new Russian offensive.