Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s threats against foreign diplomats in Kyiv reveal Moscow’s worsening battlefield position in Ukraine, senior US Congressman Jim Himes said during a briefing in the capital on Thursday.
Himes, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, called the Kremlin’s rhetoric a sign of “complete desperation,” arguing Russia is increasingly struggling on the front line.
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“The Russian people should look at the sacrifice they are being asked to make – their own blood, their own sons – for a mad dictator,” Himes said, according to RBC-Ukraine.
He also accused Moscow of openly embracing tactics amounting to war crimes by threatening strikes that could endanger civilians, diplomats, hospitals, maternity wards, and humanitarian organizations.
Himes said the threats would ultimately backfire, adding that he would push for increased US military aid to Ukraine upon returning to Washington.
“Everything Sergey Lavrov represents is exactly what free people should fight against,” he said.
The comments came after Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned on May 25 that Moscow could strike defense facilities, “decision-making centers,” and military command sites in Kyiv.
The ministry urged foreign diplomats to leave Kyiv “as soon as possible” and warned residents to avoid military and administrative infrastructure sites.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 29, 2026
Lavrov later told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Vladimir Putin had ordered regular strikes on Kyiv. Foreign diplomats, however, refused to leave the city.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, also visiting Kyiv, said Washington would likely respond positively to Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to Donald Trump for additional air defense missiles.
“When we saw the destroyed shopping mall and the demolished residential building, it became obvious that Putin is deliberately targeting women, children, and other civilians,” Blumenthal said, according to Suspilne.
The latest escalation followed a Ukrainian strike on a college building and dormitory in Starobilsk overnight on May 22, which Russia claims had killed 21 people and injured 65.
Ukraine’s military said the site housed the headquarters of Russia’s “Rubikon” drone unit, while Moscow claimed students were inside the building during the strike. Putin called the attack a “terrorist act” and ordered the military to prepare retaliatory measures.
In the aftermath, Russia carried out one of its largest aerial assaults since the beginning of the war.
Overnight, between Saturday and Sunday, Moscow launched around 90 missiles and more than 600 drones on Kyiv, in what officials have described as one of the heaviest attacks to date.
Ukrainian authorities said at least two people were killed and 87 wounded as of Monday, while emergency services continued search-and-rescue operations across the capital.
Ukraine’s Recovery Ministry said it received nearly 1,000 applications for housing compensation in Kyiv following the weekend barrage, underscoring the scale of damage to residential areas and infrastructure.
Russia has repeatedly issued similar warnings during the war while continuing strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Kyiv and its Western allies accuse Moscow of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, a claim Russia repeatedly denies.
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