European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has condemned the Ukrainian attack on Kyiv, which has once again destroyed buildings and claimed lives, the BBC reports.
The attack in the early hours of the 28th of August killed 15 people, including four children, and injured dozens. A five-storey residential building was destroyed, and buildings housing the European Union office and the British embassy were damaged. Von der Leyen said two missiles landed 50 metres from the EU mission.
The attacks follow US efforts to achieve peace through diplomatic channels and have angered both Britain and the EU. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Russian dictator Vladimir Putin of sabotaging hopes for peace, while European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas said the Russians had shown their choice: escalation and a mockery of peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had chosen ballistic missiles over the negotiating table.
While the Kremlin has continued to insist it is interested in talks, von der Leyen said
the strike on Kyiv was yet another grim evidence that Russia will not stop terrorizing Ukraine.
She added that there should never be a situation where diplomatic missions are targeted and the Russian ambassador in Brussels summoned for talks. The British Foreign Office has also summoned the Russian ambassador.
The Ukrainian armed forces reported that Russia had launched almost 600 drones and more than 30 ballistic missiles into Ukraine overnight. Most of the dead were in the collapsed five-story building. Already on Wednesday, about 100,000 homes were left without electricity after Russian shelling, and Thursday morning’s strikes cut off power to another 60,000 households.
Von der Leyen announced that a 19th package of sanctions was being prepared, and she herself would visit the bloc’s countries that share a border with Russia and its ally Belarus in the coming days.
US President Donald Trump had hoped to arrange a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Putin, but such a possibility seems increasingly unrealistic.
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