The United States on Thursday issued unusually stern criticism of Russia and called on Moscow to refrain from launching its pledged "systematic strikes" against Kyiv, but the Russian government dismissed the appeal and renewed its warning for foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital.
The comments were made during a United Nations Security Council session that Ukraine had requested in response to a barrage on Sunday that used hundreds of drones and missiles against Kyiv and nearby areas. Among the weapons Russia used in the assault was an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, a nuclear-capable system that, according to public accounts cited in the session, has been fired into Ukraine at least three times since November 2024.
Condemning the Sunday attack, Tammy Bruce, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., characterized Russia’s use of the Oreshnik as "an inexplicable, dangerous and barbaric escalation" of the conflict that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. She added: "We caution Russia not to mount so-called systematic strikes against Kyiv, which risk further civilian casualties and setting back the prospect of peace."
The bombardment killed at least two civilians and injured roughly 100 people, according to reports discussed during the session. Moscow has said the operation was a response to a Ukrainian strike on a student dormitory in Donetsk, the eastern region that Moscow-backed separatists seized in 2014.
Bruce’s remarks represented some of the most forceful criticism of Russia issued by the Trump administration, whose public stance toward Moscow has been more accommodating than that of many U.S. allies. She did not specify how the United States would react if Russia were to follow through on its threat of "systemic strikes."
In response, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia repeated Moscow’s assertion that the Sunday attacks had targeted key Ukrainian military and intelligence installations and reaffirmed Russia’s intention to strike "decision-making centers and command posts." He said these facilities are "dispersed throughout Kyiv," and cited that fact in explaining Russia’s advisory to foreign citizens, including staff of diplomatic missions and offices of international organizations, to "leave the city as soon as possible."
U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari told the council the United Nations was "deeply concerned" by Russia’s stated plans for "consistent and systemic strikes" on targets in Kyiv.
The Security Council session highlighted a series of immediate humanitarian and diplomatic implications from the weekend’s bombardment and the ensuing rhetoric: civilian casualties and injuries in Kyiv, public warnings to foreign diplomatic personnel to depart the capital, and renewed international alarm over the use of an intermediate-range missile system in the conflict.