Kyiv has banned mass celebrations to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day on Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned citizens to be alert to possible Russian strikes.
Fearing rocket attacks, the Kyiv city military administration introduced a ban on “mass events” Tuesday and Wednesday, it announced in a statement released Monday.
The move comes “in order to ensure the safety of citizens,” and events must “provide for the possibility of sheltering participants” in the case of air raid alerts.
The ban comes after Zelenskyy warned that Moscow could try “something particularly nasty” in the run-up to Ukraine’s 31st Independence Day. The day will also mark six months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We should be aware that this week Russia may try to do something particularly nasty, something particularly cruel,” Zelenskyy said during an address over the weekend.
In Kharkiv, a northeastern city, the mayor announced the extension of an overnight curfew, from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m., effective from Tuesday to Thursday.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for the killing of Darya Dugina — the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a Russian ideologue and Vladimir Putin ally — with Russian nationalists calling for an escalation of strikes against their neighbor.
The U.S. State Department said that Moscow is “stepping up efforts” to strike civilian infrastructure “in the coming days,” marking the first time the U.S. has specifically warned that civilian and government buildings could be targeted. The U.S. embassy advised American citizens to leave Ukraine on ground transportation if they can.
