Over 50 people have been injured after Russia targeted the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with ballistic missiles overnight, city officials said Wednesday.
A hospital, school, kindergarten, morgue and residential buildings were damaged in the attack, Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, with the latest update stating that 53 people were injured. Twenty of them, including two children, were hospitalized as a result of the strikes.
The strike on the capital comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington Tuesday to meet President Joe Biden and US lawmakers in a bid to secure a large tranche of additional emergency funding, amid discontent among some Republicans over continuing aid.
Biden and Ukraine’s other allies have warned that a cessation in aid could lead to a victory for Moscow, but time is running out for a deal in the Senate this week. Zelensky said of the meeting in Washington that positive signs from lawmakers did not equal a positive result.
“I said exactly what I wanted to say. I feel support from President Biden’s administration, I also felt it from senators today – we talked about it. And we talked with the speaker. All these signals were there. They were more than positive. But we know that there are words, and there is a concrete result. We will wait for a better result,” he said.
Russia slams Zelensky, saying ‘everyone is tired of the beggar from Kyiv’
Russia’s ambassador to the US slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s trip to the US this week, stating that “everyone is tired of the beggar from Kyiv.”
“Zelensky’s trip turned out to be empty,” Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said on the Russian Embassy’s Telegram channel.
“It was not possible to convince them that Ukraine is more important than the security of the United States. Everyone is tired of the beggar from Kyiv,” Antonov claimed.
The US also announced on Tuesday further, sweeping sanctions on more than 250 individuals and entities accused of helping Russia to evade sanctions imposed on it following its invasion of Ukraine. It also announced a new package of weapons and equipment for Kyiv.
Antonov said the measures would not work, and would not help Ukraine, saying that “restrictions and supplies of military products will not affect Russia’s foreign policy priorities.”
“The anti-Russian steps announced today – new sanctions and another shipment of weapons – are nothing more than an attempt to put a good face on a bad game. Nothing will help Zelensky,” he added.
“The Americans risk getting even more bogged down in the quagmire of the Ukrainian conflict,” he said.
Russia bombs Odesa – Children among the injured
Russian forces bombed the Odesa region, which resulted in destruction – rescuers are working on the spot, Ukrainian media reports, based on the State Emergency Situations Service.
Reportedly, as a result of the attack, a fire broke out and 11 nearby buildings were damaged. 11 people, including 3 children, were injured. The attack on Odesa was carried out using drones, and the air alert in the district lasted for more than 6 hours.
Germany to maintain support for Ukraine despite budget pressures
Germany will continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary despite adjustments and cuts to its budget, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a press conference on Wednesday.
This includes weapon deliveries, financial support for Ukraine’s budget and assistance for Ukrainian refugees in Germany, Scholz explained.
If the situation in Ukraine changes, “we will have to react,” which could include requesting an emergency exception for Germany’s budget, he said. This would allow Germany to expand its monetary support for Ukraine.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner said 8 billion euros ($8.6 billion) was currently allocated for “direct, bilateral support for Ukraine” in 2024.
Support Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes,’ EU chief urges bloc
The European Union’s chief executive called on Wednesday for the bloc to support Ukraine as long as it takes, her remarks ahead of a key European leaders’ summit standing in sharp contrast to Hungary’s criticism of giving more aid to Kyiv.
Hungary is opposed to granting Ukraine more financial aid and has threatened to veto plans to advance Kyiv’s EU membership bid at a summit of the bloc’s leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
“As the war drags on, we must prove what it means to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament ahead of the leaders’ summit.
Her Commission has proposed that the summit takes a decision this week to start EU membership talks with Ukraine once it meets the four outstanding conditions set out previously to advance Kyiv’s EU hopes. The Brussels EU executive suggested that could happen in March.
Von der Leyen said on Wednesday the laws Ukraine passed last week, including on national minorities, an issue raised by Hungary, cleared three of the remaining tasks, meaning that only one was missing: a new lobbying law to rein in oligarchs.
While EU officials and Budapest say they may work around Hungary’s opposition to a proposal to give Ukraine 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in economic aid through 2027, advancing Ukraine’s European aspirations requires unanimous backing of all the bloc’s 27 states.
Compiled by Ana Dumbadze
