Russia has telegraphed plans for a series of “systematic” strikes against the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, warning foreign embassies to “evacuate”, prompting Marco Rubio to warn against escalation and the risk of the Ukraine War “spreading into something new”. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke while aboard Air Force Three during his official visit to India, laying out details of a call he’d received from Moscow’s Sergey Lavrov on Monday in which the top Russian diplomat is said to have complained about European involvement in the war on Kyiv’s behalf, and advised America to withdraw its personnel from the city.
Per a Kremlin readout of the call, Russian Foreign Service veteran Lavrov told Rubio that “in response to the Kiev regime’s continued attacks against civilian population and infrastructure in Russia, the armed forces of the Russian Federation were beginning systematic and consistent strikes against military sites and corresponding decision-making centres in Kiev”. Both Ukraine and Russia have long accused each other of launching strikes against civilian populations and infrastructure while claiming their own strikes only aim at legitimate military targets. Ukraine has carried out effective strikes in recent days against a Russian oil depot, for instance, which Kyiv said is a crucial supplier of fuel to the Russian military fighting in the war. As noted by The Guardian, Kyiv’s drone strikes have also taken out water and power supplies in the Russian Belgorod region, which directly borders Ukraine.
