Russians announce 'series of systemic strikes' on Kyiv, warn foreign nationals to leave city

(Patria) - Russia today called on foreign nationals to leave Kyiv before it launches "a series of systemic strikes" on targets in the Ukrainian capital.

A day after one of the heaviest bombardments of Kyiv since the start of the war, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that these strikes were a response to an "intentional drone attack" on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region.

"Due to these circumstances, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are launching a series of systemic strikes on companies of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex in Kyiv," the statement said.

It was emphasized that the strikes would target specific locations used for drone design and production, as well as decision-making centers and command posts.

The Ukrainian military dismissed the Russian accusations, stating that they had hit an elite drone command unit in the area, not a student dormitory.

In Kyiv, rescuers today were dealing with the aftermath of Sunday's Russian attacks, which, according to Ukrainian authorities, killed two people and injured 91.

Moscow fired a hypersonic missile "Oreshnik," marking the third use of this projectile in over four years of war.

About 300 locations across Kyiv were damaged, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

One of the sites was a newly opened museum commemorating the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

"There is not a single room that is not destroyed," the museum's director, Vitalina Martynovska, told Reuters.

More than 70 foreign diplomats paid tribute to the victims of the attacks in Kyiv, visiting a heavily damaged settlement in Lukyanivka today.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued its own attacks on Russian infrastructure and industrial complexes.

One man was killed and another injured in a missile and drone attack on Russia's Belgorod region. The attack disrupted power and water supply, local authorities announced on Telegram.

Four people, including two teenagers, were killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Horlivka, under Russian control, announced Mayor Ivan Prikhodko.

In the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, two people were killed and 16 injured in Russian shelling and missile and drone attacks, announced regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Two people were killed and more than 20 injured in a missile attack on the city of Derhachi near Kharkiv.

Another 14 people were injured in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, officials said. Emergency services stated that a nine-story building was hit by a drone in the city of Pavlohrad, releasing photos of thick smoke.

Reuters could not independently verify these reports.