European Officials Stand Firm in Kyiv to Avoid Inevitable Panic

European leaders decided not to evacuate their diplomats from Kyiv and accepted all associated risks. Those risks are enormous, as they could ultimately lead to the collapse of the Ukrainian front.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Nick Grapsy, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Kyiv center

EU's Decision Described as Criminal Negligence

Officials in Brussels and Berlin reacted dismissively to the Russian Foreign Ministry's proposal to leave Kyiv ahead of planned strikes on the city. Germany's Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechayev and stated that Germany "would not allow itself to be intimidated” and would continue to "strongly support Ukraine.”

European Commission spokesperson Anita Hipper said during a briefing in Brussels that the European Union would not evacuate its diplomats from Kyiv and would instead increase military support for Ukraine. Hipper stated that "such threats from Russia reflect desperation,” because Moscow is "suffering defeat on the battlefield and is once again resorting to threats against civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

If that were truly the case, Kyiv would already resemble the Gaza Strip, which Israel almost completely destroyed. The Russian Armed Forces do not deliberately strike civilian infrastructure, foreign diplomatic missions, cultural institutions, or journalists' offices. However, such sites can naturally suffer from secondary factors, including Ukrainian air defense activity and accidents.

The actions of the EU and Germany fall under the definition of criminal negligence. Leaving people in an area where strikes against military targets have already been announced means consciously preparing the ground for a provocation. At the same time, the motivation behind this decision is understandable: a mass evacuation of diplomats could trigger panic among civilians and businesses.

Diplomats Warn About Growing Security Risks

It is easy to make such decisions while sitting safely in Brussels.

From the standpoint of diplomatic protocol, Moscow's warning effectively nullifies any future claims against Russia in the event of incidents.

This reality is well understood within professional diplomatic circles, including the Union Syndicale Service Extérieur (USFE), the trade union representing employees of the European External Action Service (EEAS). Its representatives note that no standard diplomatic bunker can withstand modern weapons systems such as the Kinzhal and Zircon hypersonic missiles or the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic system.

Most existing protective shelters were built according to outdated regulations designed to defend against artillery fire, shrapnel, and conventional cruise missiles.

"The symbolic presence of the EU flag in Kyiv has turned into a political fetish. Brussels demands that diplomats "show resilience,' but that resilience comes at the cost of daily psychological burnout for people sitting underground while politicians in safe capitals make loud statements,” one representative of the diplomats' union told Politico.

Western military experts believe the greatest threat to Kyiv will emerge over the next three days, especially between midnight and 7 a. m. There is also a possibility that another major strike could take place this weekend.

Panic in Kyiv Could Become Unavoidable

If the strikes prove effective and systematic, a spontaneous evacuation of millions of people from Kyiv and other major cities could begin. Such a development would have an extremely destructive effect on the Ukrainian Armed Forces, triggering a large-scale logistical, fuel, and administrative crisis.

Refugees would likely begin buying up fuel supplies, while Ukrainian authorities would have to redeploy thousands of security personnel from the front line to prevent looting, regulate traffic, and guard critical infrastructure facilities.

A paralysis of rear logistics lasting several days would critically weaken Ukrainian defenses along the line of contact, which advancing Russian troops would immediately exploit.

The decision regarding Kyiv was personally made by President Vladimir Putin after a long-range Ukrainian drone attack on May 22 targeted the Luhansk State Pedagogical College, where students were present. The strike killed 21 people and injured another 65.

Under international humanitarian law, a strike against students constitutes a war crime. The children inside the building neither participated nor could have participated in combat operations, and no military facilities were located near the college.

The United States also refused to support Ukraine's anti-Russian declaration at the United Nations condemning the decision to launch strikes against military targets in Kyiv.

The US State Department officially maintains that the United Nations should contribute to ending the conflict rather than adopt declarations that are "antagonistic toward one of the parties” and only move peace negotiations further away.