Russia launched a wave of rocket and drone attacks against several regions of Ukraine on Saturday morning, a day after the U.K. announced a security pact with Kyiv and billions more toward Ukraine’s war effort.
Saturday’s Russian barrage came as France’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné arrived in Kyiv and pledged more French support for Ukraine.
The strikes on Saturday included powerful Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
Ukrianian air defenses recorded a total of 40 attacks on Saturday, of which 37 were missiles and three were drones, across the regions of Kyiv, Dnipropetrovs’k, Chernihiv, Poltava and Ivano-Frankivsk, the Air Force told Reuters.
Ukraine said it destroyed eight missiles and downed others using radio-electronic disruption. Several buildings were damaged, with no casualties reported so far.
The strikes come as European politicians travel to Kyiv to promise more aid in 2024, amid dwindling Ukrainian supplies of air-defense rockets and fears that U.S. help has stalled due to a blocked Congress and this year’s presidential election.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday committed £2.5 billion (€2.9 billion) in military aid to Ukraine for 2024/2025, as the U.K. leader met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. The two countries also signed a bilateral security agreement, the first multi-year guarantee that Ukraine has received from an ally.
France’s Séjourné, named foreign minister in a government reshuffle on Thursday, arrived in Kyiv by train on Saturday, telling reporters that “France will support Ukraine over the long term economically, militarily and humanitarily.” Paris has been one of the EU’s lowest contributors to Ukraine so far.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also plans a trip, saying he will be in Kyiv on Monday. Warsaw emerged as a strong ally to Kyiv when Russia first invaded, yet relations deteriorated last year over claims Ukrainian truckers and food exports are harming the Polish economy.
