❗️Russia’s top diplomat in Australia has been called in by DFAT for a dressing down over Moscow’s vow to launch a blizzard of strikes across the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, which included a warning to foreign diplomats to leave the city.

Diplomatic sources said Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials had rebuked Russian ambassador Mikhail Petrakov in Canberra over the threats in a meeting on Wednesday.

Petrakov arrived in Australia last September, replacing former ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky.

UPDATE: Ambassador Petrakov rejected the Australian Government's position in a statement here.

Via Sydney Morning Herald

We took note of the Australian side’s position regarding the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Statement of 25 May and reject its interpretation as a “threat”.

Russian MFA issued an advance warning urging the timely evacuation of foreign nationals, including personnel of diplomatic missions and representative offices of international organisations, in view of impending strikes by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation against military targets in Kiev.

These strikes are an inevitable reaction to the gruesome terrorist attack on the academic building and dormitory of a college of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk committed by the Kiev regime on 22 May. It claimed 21 young lives (most of them girls born in 2006-2007), with more than 60 people injured, and constituted a direct violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols regulating the protection of civilians during conflicts, the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, and a number of other important international instruments.

We also noted that neither the Australian government nor the mainstream media reacted to this heinous crime. Should we take it as accepting and condoning the killing of Russian children by the neo-Nazi regime, hiding behind the Kiev lies about the allegedly “military” nature of the dormitory and generally giving Ukraine a free hand in murdering civilians?

50 foreign journalists from 19 nations visited Starobelsk and witnessed the devastating consequences of the Ukrainian massive drone strikes.

❗️The Kiev regime is fully responsible for the escalation of hostilities and the undermining of political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

❗️Country News: Mikhail Petrakov, who has been ambassador since August, was told by officials that recent threats by Russia to demolish buildings in Ukraine's capital Kiev were a violation of international law.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the threats were totally unacceptable and required action.

It is the second time a Russian ambassador to Australia has been hauled in to the Department of Foreign Affairs in as many year.

Mr Petrakov's predecessor was called to give information after Melbourne man Oscar Jenkins was killed fighting for Ukraine in January 2025.

Mr Jenkins was taken into custody by Russian troops and died while detained, sparking outrage and diplomatic action.

In 2014, then-ambassador Vladimir Morozov was summoned to explain Russia's decision to send troops into Crimea.

Source: http://countrynews.com.au/national/russian-ambassador-summoned-for-unacceptable-threats/