Russia has given a warning to foreign diplomats and citizens to get out of Kyiv before it launches a possible massive missile attack by Vladimir Putin. The attack is expected to happen immediately following Ukraine’s attempt to disrupt the Kremlin dictator’s military parade on 9th May in Moscow.  

The second official warning of a “monumental” strike on Kyiv as Russia continues to be suspected of using Oreshnik missiles with conventional warheads capable of causing nuclear-scale devastation. 

Maria Zhakharova, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry of the Russian Federation, advised Western and other countries “to ensure the timely evacuation from the city of Kyiv of the personnel of diplomatic and other missions, citizens. 

“They should seriously consider the threats of the defence ministry that a retaliatory strike by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation against Kyiv is inevitable, including against decision-making centres, should the Kyiv regime implement its criminal terrorist plans.”

She added “must not be ignored”, saying Russia had acted, after a threat from Volodymyr Zelensky to send his drones to the annual military parade on the 9th of May on Red Square, to mark the end of World War 2.

Zelensky has blamed Putin for not taking his ceasefire call into consideration and instead for doubling down on attacks against Ukraine.

He claimed the Russian president is “one man in Moscow, who can’t do without war” and “only interested in a parade and nothing else.”

The Kremlin’s attempts to keep Kyiv drones out of Moscow on Saturday proved “Russia has been at war to the point that even their main parade is dependent on us”. 

At least 347 drones were launched at Russia from Ukraine overnight on May 7th, and more were targeted after dawn. They hit at least 21 regions and were shot down over three seas – the Azov, Black and Caspian.

A major military facility in Naro-Fominsk, Moscow region, was reportedly ablaze after the failure of Putin’s air defences.

The Nara production and logistics complex is a large-scale, high-tech military production facility.

A group of Ukrainian strikes hit the major Black Sea resort of Sochi.

There was chaos in the air in several territories, including in Moscow, where the Vnukovo airport was closed.

Three major cities in the Urals – Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Perm – had to temporarily close their airports as a result of drone attacks.

In a blow to Putin, a total of 15 cities and regions have cancelled Victory Day military parades on Saturday due to the threats of Ukrainian attacks – Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Krasnodar, Leningrad region, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Pskov, Ryazan, Saratov, Rostov, Kaluga, Oryol, Bryansk and Chuvashia.