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Embassy in Kiev
Kremlin predicts “inevitable retaliatory attacks” if Ukraine interrupts Victory Day celebrations.
Russia urged foreign embassies to one “immediate evacuation” of its employees and citizens of Kiev, in anticipation of “inevitable retaliatory attacks” should Ukraine halt Victory Day celebrations on May 9.
In a memorandum sent to the diplomatic corps, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of the “inevitability of retaliatory attacks” against ukrainian capital case a Ukraine interrupt the May 9th celebrations in Moscow and called on foreign countries to “ensure the immediate evacuation of diplomatic mission personnel, as well as their citizens, from the city of Kiev.”
That day, a military parade will take place in Moscow to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled that the Russian Ministry of Defense had already warned of the consequences of any attempt to interrupt the celebrations of “a holiday sacred to all Russians” and insisted that these statements be taken “with the utmost seriousness.”
Therefore, he recommended “guaranteeing the immediate evacuation of diplomats and other mission staff, as well as citizens, from Kievdue to the inevitability of a retaliatory attack by the Russian Armed Forces” against the Ukrainian capital if Kiev “implements its terrorist plans”.
This year’s May 9 parade in Moscow will be held no military equipment. Political analyst Ihar Tyshkevych said this could be a decision to mobilization in Russia: “In their propaganda, the Russians emphasize that this is not a war against Ukraine, but against the collective West, against NATO, against the EU. In other words, they can declare that they need a victory this year. They really need a change in the situation at the front this year.”
According to Tyshkevich, Putin’s theory is: “To save people, we don’t even dare to hold a parade with military equipment; we need a victory, one for all, that’s why the mobilization is being announced.”
A Russia did not join the unilateral ceasefire and for an indefinite period proposed by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which should have started at midnight this Wednesday.
This ceasefire was a response to an earlier proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a cessation of hostilities by May 9.
Moscow did not comment on Zelenskyy’s proposal, and he noted that attacks continued, suggesting that the ceasefire had not been accepted.
At the same time, Russian regional authorities reported that Kiev also violated its own ceasefire by continuing drone attacks on Russian territory.
