Europe just refused to pull its embassies out of Kyiv
1 hour ago · 5 October 2026Share
The EU Delegation building in Kyiv on Volodymyrska Street. File photo. Tohaomg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Russia told every foreign diplomat in Kyiv to leave the city or risk their lives.
A day later, Europe's answer is no.
Katarína Mathernová, the EU's Ambassador to Ukraine, says the EU Delegation and every single EU embassy in Kyiv is staying put.
Twenty-five EU countries have embassies there. All twenty-five are staying.
So what's going on?
Mathernová says Russia has made this threat before. And she thinks she knows why.
She says it's frustration. Russia can't win on the battlefield, so now it's trying to scare the embassies out instead.
Germany's ambassador, Boris Ruge, replied to her post on X with three words.
He says quote "we're staying".
He added that threatening Europe won't stop its support for Ukraine. It just reminds everyone why that support matters.
Poland says nothing is changing at its Kyiv embassy, and called the threats an attempt to intimidate Europe.
Estonia says its embassy is staying too, and that the threats only strengthen its resolve.
Denmark's ambassador, Thomas Lund-Sørensen, posted three words of his own on X, saying Denmark is staying as well.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says it hasn't had a single notification from any foreign mission about pulling staff out.
So why is Russia doing this now?
Russia's Foreign Ministry said a day ago that it will keep up what it calls massive retaliatory strikes on Kyiv. And it says if diplomats stay and something happens to them, that's on them.
The rest of this story is for members.
A panoramic view of the Podil district in Kyiv from the observation deck in Khreshchaty Park. File photo. Alexey laa · CC BY-SA 4.0
The warning landed right as Russian drones hit the same bridge in Kyiv two mornings running. The Northern Bridge was hit again this morning. Two people were hurt. A day before that, the Southern Bridge was hit four times and shut down completely.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's President, says Vladimir Putin, Russia's President, has abandoned the rules of armed conflict by ordering attacks on civilian areas. The Kremlin rejects that.
Christian Wigand, who speaks for the European Commission, says the threats show Russia losing the war and losing control of itself. He says the EU's delegation in Kyiv is working as usual.
And on this exact day, Germany's Chancellor showed up in person.
Friedrich Merz made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, arriving by train with Katherina Reiche, Germany's Economy Minister, and executives from German defence companies.
He brought a package worth more than €1.3 billion. Around €1 billion of that is military aid — interceptor drones, long-range weapons, satellite equipment. Another €350 million is for fixing Ukraine's energy system before winter hits.
Ukraine and Germany also signed 15 separate agreements worth more than €8.5 billion, including one on working together against drones, Zelenskyy says.
Merz says the threats from Moscow this week didn't stop him coming. He says Germany will not be intimidated.
He and Zelenskyy went to the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. A Russian drone hit that building on 28 September, killing two people and injuring seven.
While they stood there, an air-raid alert sounded over the whole city.
Zelenskyy says quote "a needed signal" came from Merz staying through that alert, from him and from Germany.
Mathernová also says the EU has approved €28.3 billion in defence spending for Ukraine this year, with another €6.6 billion in military aid on the way. The EU also put fresh sanctions on this week over the deportation of Ukrainian children.
The Guardian has reported, citing two unnamed senior Western diplomats, that Western missions have drawn up plans to move staff from Kyiv to Lviv or eastern Poland if Russia targets embassies directly. Zufron has not independently confirmed that report.
Russia has not responded publicly to any of today's statements.
So here's what we don't know. Is Russia's threat a real warning of what's coming, or just pressure to isolate Ukraine diplomatically? And does this resolve hold if the strikes on central Kyiv keep landing closer to where these embassies actually sit?
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