Russian missiles struck a devastating blow to residential areas in a city in eastern Ukraine on Thursday for the second time in a day. As the anniversary of the war with Russia approaches, senior European Union officials have gathered in Kyiv for talks with the national government.
The latest strikes in Kramatorsk came as rescue teams searched for survivors in the ruins of an apartment building that was hit by a Russian rocket late Wednesday night, killing at least three people and injuring 21 others. According to the Office of the President of Ukraine, at least one more victim is under the rubble.
“Kramatorsk is once again being shaken by explosions – the Russians have launched two more missile strikes,” Governor of the region Pavel Kirilenko wrote on Telegram.
He said at least five civilians had been injured in the latest attacks on residential buildings, as well as on a children’s clinic and a school in the city centre. Kramatorsk Mayor Alexander Goncharenko urged residents to stay in shelters.
Kramatorsk is a major hub for the Ukrainian military in the east.
No further details of Thursday’s attack were immediately available.
During the war, Russia has frequently targeted apartment buildings, resulting in civilian casualties, although the Kremlin denies that it has targeted apartment buildings.
As a result of Russian shelling of Ukraine, at least eight civilians were killed and 29 more were injured during the day, the presidential administration said. In addition to those injured in Kramatorsk, the death toll includes four people who died when a Russian mortar shell hit the basement where they were hiding in the northeast of the Chernihiv region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen ahead of what officials called a summit on Friday. The last such summit was held in Kyiv in October 2021, a few months before the start of the war on February 24, 2022.
Von der Leyen praised Ukraine’s “brilliant bid” during the war for membership in the European Union, although Brussels officials say Ukraine’s entry into the 27-nation bloc is still a long way off.
In the run-up to membership, von der Leyen said, the Commission is suggesting that Kyiv “join key European programs – this will give Ukraine benefits close to those of EU membership in many areas.”
EU aid to Ukraine has reached 50 billion euros ($55 billion) since the start of the war with Russia, she said.
She said that the EU plans to re-impose the 10th package of sanctions against Russia before February 24. evidence of war crimes.
Von der Leyen, on her fourth visit to Kyiv since the Russian invasion, added that she was “comforted” by Ukraine’s anti-corruption campaign. The eradication of pervasive corruption is a key condition for accession to the EU.
Zelenskiy on Wednesday targeted corrupt officials for the second time in a week. Several high-ranking officials were dismissed.
Zelenskiy was elected in 2019 on a platform against the establishment and corruption in a country long overrun by bribery.
The latest allegations of corruption have come as Western allies pour billions of dollars into helping Kyiv fight Moscow’s forces and the Ukrainian government is reforming to potentially join the EU.
The Ukrainian government is keen to get more military aid from the West, on top of the tanks promised last week, as the warring parties are expected to launch new offensives after the winter ends. Kyiv is now asking for fighters.
Kyiv expects Russia to “do something” on the February 24th anniversary, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told French TV channel BFM.
“We are telling our partners that we also need to be ready as quickly as possible,” he said in an interview late Wednesday night.
US President Joe Biden ruled out the possibility of providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday during a trip to the Philippines that U.S. aid is aimed at boosting Ukraine’s military capabilities by sending artillery, armored vehicles and air defenses, and training Ukrainian troops.
The U.S. is “focused on giving Ukraine the capabilities it needs for an effective counteroffensive expected in the spring,” Austin said.
“And so we are doing everything we can to give them the capabilities they need right now to be effective on the battlefield,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strategy would backfire as Moscow would encourage it to keep potential Russian targets out of reach.
“The longer the range of weapons supplied to the Kyiv regime, the further we will need to push it away from the territories that are part of our country,” Lavrov said in an interview with Russian state media.
He said Moscow would like the war to end, but noted that the length of the conflict is less important than its desired outcome: protecting Russian territory and “people who want to remain part of Russian culture,” confirming Moscow’s stated goal of protecting Russian speakers in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin showed national pride at a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II as he sought to bolster support at home for the struggle in Ukraine, where Kremlin forces have suffered some embarrassing situations. failures of recent months.
“The strength of the defenders of Stalingrad is the most important moral beacon for Russian soldiers,” he said in Volgograd, since Stalingrad was renamed in 1961. “Everything that defines Russia and makes us strong and confident in ourselves, in the rightness of our cause and our victory.”
