RUSSIA fired over 100 drones and two ballistic missiles at Ukrainian targets overnight, Ukrainian authorities said today.

But the Foreign Ministry said this was now routine and threats to hit the capital Kiev “systematically” had brought no change.

In the Kremlin, presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov shrugged that off, saying the term “systematically” didn’t tie Russia to a schedule. Russia launched a major barrage at Kiev on Saturday, killing four in what it said was retaliation for a Ukrainian strike on a student dormitory in Lugansk that killed 21. It has warned foreign diplomats and residents to leave Kiev and not to go near “military and administrative buildings.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the warning after a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday night, but gave a muted response, only saying that civilian casualties from both Russian and Ukrainian strikes were further evidence the war needed to be brought to an end as quickly as possible.

No diplomats appear to have left Kiev as a result of the threat, while the EU, French and Polish missions stated publicly they would not budge.

Russian Security Council secretary and former defence minister Sergey Shoigu said the conduct of the US-led Nato alliance was not conducive to peace talks, pointing to joint US-European military exercises in Poland (Amber Shock 26) and Poland, Lithuania and Finland (Sabre Strike 26) which have simulated launching missile strikes against Russia and Belarus.

Russia’s deployment of nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missiles in Belarus would act as a deterrent to Western aggression, he said.