The head of the European Union’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has spoken of her outrage at Russia’s deadliest onslaught on Kyiv since July – which also damaged the EU’s delegation office in the Ukrainian capital.
At least 18 people including four children were killed and dozens more wounded in the bombardment, Ukrainian officials said. A five-storey residential building was destroyed, and the EU mission and nearby British Council were damaged.
In a strongly worded statement, von der Leyen said that Russian missiles struck in close proximity to the diplomatic mission: “Two missiles hit in a distance of 50m (165ft) of the delegation within 20 seconds.”
The overnight attacks followed a US-led diplomatic offensive aimed at bringing an end to the war and infuriated the UK as well as the EU.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Russia’s Vladimir Putin of “sabotaging hopes of peace”, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said they showed “a deliberate choice to escalate and mock peace efforts”.
Moscow had chosen “ballistics instead of the negotiating table”, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who reiterated the need for “new, tough sanctions” on Russia.
Although the Kremlin said Russia was “still interested” in negotiations, von der Leyen said the strikes were “another grim reminder” that Russia would “stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine”, killing men, women and children and even targeting the EU.
An EU spokeswoman said no diplomatic mission should ever be targeted and the Russian charge d’affaires in Brussels was being summoned in response to the attack. The UK said Russia’s ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, would be summoned to the foreign office.
Credit: bbc.com
