Russia tells diplomats to leave Kyiv in case Moscow launches mass strikes

Russia's Foreign Ministry has warned diplomatic missions in Kyiv to evacuate their staff, threatening mass strikes on the city in retaliation for any Ukrainian attempts to disrupt Russia's May 9 Victory Day commemorations. Russian spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cited Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's statements about potentially disrupting the military parade and noted that Russia has redeployed air defenses to protect Moscow for the event. Zelenskyy had previously remarked that Russia's scaled-down commemoration and removal of military hardware from the parade indicated weakness and vulnerability to drone attacks.