Russia hits civilian targets anew, EU officials visit Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian missiles hit residential areas in an eastern Ukrainian city Thursday for the second time in 24 hours, while top European Union officials held talks with the government in Kyiv as the war with Russia approaches its one-year milestone.

The latest strikes in Kramatorsk came as rescue crews searched for survivors in the rubble of an apartment building hit late Wednesday by a Russian missile that killed at least three people and wounded 21 others. At least one more victim was thought to be under the debris, Ukraine’s presidential office said.

“Kramatorsk again shattered by explosions — the Russians made two more rocket strikes,” regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote in a Telegram post. Kramatorsk is a major hub for the Ukrainian military in the east.

Kyrylenko said at least five civilians were wounded in the latest strikes, which hit residential buildings as well as a children’s clinic and a school in the heart of the city. Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko urged residents to stay in shelters.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen greet each other Thursday during the EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ukraine’s government is keen to get more Western military aid, on top of the tanks pledged last week, as the warring sides are expected to launch new offensives once winter ends. Kyiv is now asking for fighter jets.

After months of agonizing, the United States agreed to send longer-range bombs to Ukraine as it prepares to launch a spring offensive to retake territory Russia captured last year, U.S. officials said Thursday, confirming that the new weapons will have roughly double the range of any other offensive weapon provided by America.

The U.S. will provide ground-launched small diameter bombs as part of a $2.17 billion aid package it is expected to announce Friday, several U.S. officials said. The package also for the first time includes equipment to connect all the different air defense systems Western allies have rushed to the battlefield and integrate them into Kviv’s own air defenses, to help them better defend against Russia’s continued missile attacks.

For months, U.S. officials have hesitated to send longer-range systems to Ukraine out of concern that they would be used to target inside Russia, escalating the conflict and drawing the U.S. deeper in. The longer-range bombs are the latest advanced system, such as Abrams tanks and the Patriot missile defense system, that the U.S. has eventually agreed to provide Ukraine after initially saying no. U.S. officials, though, have continued to reject Ukraine’s requests for fighter jets.

Yevgen Honcharenko, Associated Press

Apartment buildings hit by Russian rockets Thursday in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

Russian shelling across Ukraine over the previous 24 hours killed at least eight civilians and wounded 29 others, the presidential office said. Along with the victims in Kramatorsk, the toll included four who died when a Russian mortar shell hit a basement where they were sheltering in the northeastern Chernihiv region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of what officials described as a summit on Friday. 

Von der Leyen praised wartime Ukraine’s “brilliant application” for European Union membership, though Brussels officials note that Ukraine joining the 27-nation bloc is still a long way off.

Ahead of possible membership, she said, the commission proposes that Kyiv “join key European programs — this will give Ukraine benefits close to those of EU membership in many areas.”

EU assistance for Ukraine, she said, has reached $55 billion since the start of Russia’s war.

Von der Leyen said the EU plans to adopt a 10th package of sanctions again Russia before Feb. 24. She also announced that the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine would be set up in The Hague to coordinate the collection of evidence of war crimes.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend the EU-Ukraine summit Thursday in Kyiv, Ukraine.

On her fourth visit to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion, she added that she was “comforted” by Ukraine’s anti-corruption drive. Stamping out endemic corruption is a key condition for joining the EU.

Zelenskyy, elected in 2019 on an anti-establishment and anti-corruption platform in a country long gripped by graft, on Wednesday took aim at corrupt officials for the second time in the space of a week. Several high-ranking officials were dismissed.

Kyiv expects Russia to “attempt something” on the Feb. 24 anniversary, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told France’s BFM television. He stressed his government’s urgency on getting weapons without delay.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday during a trip to the Philippines that the focus of American aid is to increase Ukraine’s military capabilities by sending artillery, armor and air defense, and training Ukrainian troops.

The U.S. is “focused on providing Ukraine the capability that it needs to be effective in its upcoming anticipated counteroffensive in the spring,” Austin said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that strategy would backfire by prompting Moscow to ensure that potential Russian targets are out of range.

“The longer range the weapons supplied to the Kyiv regime, the farther we would need to push them away from the territories that are part of our country,” Lavrov said in an interview with Russian state media.