EU team arrives in Ukraine as missiles drop and Russia prepares massive attacks
- A deadly missile dropped as senior EU policy commissioners arrived in Kyiv to discuss how to bring Ukraine’s legislation into line with EU standards
- Moscow is organising massive new strikes on targets by the Russian Black Sea fleet, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command said
A Russian missile destroyed a flat building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, killing at least three people before top European Union officials arrived in Kyiv for talks seen as key to Ukraine’s pivot towards the West.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed more anti-corruption measures as authorities continued raids ahead of the meetings with the EU, reflecting his determination to show that Kyiv can be a reliable steward of billions of dollars in aid.
“We are here together to show that the EU stands by Ukraine as firmly as ever. And to deepen further our support and cooperation,” the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted as she arrived in Kyiv by train on Thursday along with more than a dozen other senior EU officials.
However, unwilling to admit a country at war, the EU is set to dash Ukraine’s hopes of being swiftly allowed membership, underlining the need for more anti-corruption measures.
The team from Brussels will discuss sending more arms and money to Ukraine, increasing access for Ukrainian products to the EU, helping Kyiv cover energy needs, strengthening sanctions on Russia and prosecuting Russian leaders for the war.
The EU says it has already earmarked almost 60 billion euros in aid to Ukraine but Kyiv’s membership bid is expected to take years.
In his evening video address, Zelensky also gave another bleak assessment of the battlefield situation as Russian forces continued to make incremental gains in the east of the country as the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion looms on February 24.
In Kramatorsk, a Russian Iskander-K tactical missile struck at 9.45pm local time on Wednesday, killing at least three people and injuring 20 others, police said.
“At least eight flat buildings were damaged. One of them was completely destroyed”, police said in a Facebook post. “People may remain under the rubble”.
Kramatorsk is about 55km (34 miles) northwest of Bakhmut, currently the main focus of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine braces for Russian onslaught as war anniversary nears
Meanwhile, Russia is preparing a massive new missile attack on targets in Ukraine, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command said on Thursday, pointing to movements by the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Most of the fleet had returned to its bases, and this suggested a new missile strike, Natalya Humenyuk told Ukrainian television.
Since Russian forces launched a campaign of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in October, most of the cruise missiles have been fired from naval vessels on the Black Sea and Caspian Sea or from strategic bombers.
According to Humenyuk, only 10 Russian ships are still at sea, whereas there are usually considerably more, most of them submarines.
“They show their muscle for a time at sea, demonstrate their presence and control over the situation and then sail to the bases, where they usually prepare for manoeuvres for a massive missile attack,” the Ukrainian military spokesperson said.
Russian missile attacks have severely impaired Ukraine’s electrical power supply and other utilities. Millions of people have been left without electricity, heating and water for extended periods during the long winter nights.
The attacks have repeatedly hit residential blocks, as recently in Dnipro, where 45 people were killed and 80 injured on January 14.
The latest warning comes almost a year after the Kremlin’s invasion began.
