Russia’s Foreign Ministry tells diplomats to evacuate Kyiv. ‘The EU is not going anywhere,’ says bloc’s ambassador to Ukraine.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry threatened Ukraine with strikes on “decision-making centers” in Kyiv, after which Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Lavrov said the United States and other countries with diplomatic missions in Kyiv had been advised to evacuate their diplomatic personnel and other citizens.

EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova called the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement a “masterpiece of hypocrisy.”

A regime that has spent years bombing residential buildings, museums, maternity wards, schools and power stations now suddenly speaks the language of “international humanitarian law” and “Geneva conventions.” […] We understand exactly what this means. Russia wants fear. Panic. Isolation of Ukraine. It will not work. The EU is not going anywhere. We are staying in Kyiv. We are staying with Ukraine. Threats against diplomats and international organizations are not a sign of strength. They are a sign of desperation.

Poland’s Foreign Ministry also responded to the threats, stating that any attacks on civilian infrastructure should be treated as unfriendly acts. “In this regard, we will consider every strike against Polish diplomatic missions to be deliberate and intentional,” the statement said.

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