Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pull American diplomats and citizens out of Kyiv, citing planned Russian military strikes on the Ukrainian capital. The warning came during a phone call on May 25, carrying what Lavrov described as a message from President Vladimir Putin about imminent operations targeting Ukrainian military facilities and decision-making centers.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a parallel statement the same day, broadening the evacuation recommendation beyond just American personnel.
A pattern of escalation warnings
This is not the first time Russia has issued such warnings in recent weeks. Between May 6 and May 8, Moscow delivered similar evacuation advisories linked to potential disruptions around Victory Day commemorations on May 9. Those earlier warnings did not result in the kind of large-scale strikes they seemed to telegraph.
Where the Victory Day advisories were framed around protecting celebrations from Ukrainian provocations, the May 25 message explicitly references planned Russian offensive operations. Moscow is not warning about what Ukraine might do. It is signaling what Russia intends to do.
