The Russian Embassy in Canberra has pushed back against the Australian government’s criticism of a recent statement issued by Moscow, rejecting claims that Russia had issued a “threat” over planned military action in Kyiv.
In a strongly worded statement late Wednesday the embassy said the Russian Foreign Ministry’s warning on May 25 was intended as an advance notice for foreign nationals — including diplomats and staff of international organisations — to evacuate areas that could be affected by impending Russian strikes on what it described as military targets in Kyiv.
The embassy said the planned attacks were a response to what it called a “gruesome terrorist attack” allegedly carried out by Ukrainian forces on May 22 against a college building and dormitory linked to Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk.
According to the Russian statement, 21 people were killed in the attack, most of them teenage girls born in 2006 and 2007, while more than 60 others were injured. Moscow accused Kyiv of violating international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The embassy also criticised the Australian government and mainstream media for what it described as silence over the incident, questioning whether the lack of public condemnation amounted to tacit support for attacks on Russian civilians.
It further accused Ukraine of attempting to justify the strike by portraying the dormitory as a military facility and claimed Canberra had given Kyiv “a free hand in murdering civilians”.
The Russian Embassy said 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries had visited Starobelsk and witnessed the aftermath of what it described as large-scale Ukrainian drone strikes.
Moscow also blamed the Ukrainian government for escalating the conflict and undermining diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the war.
