KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit Monday, hours after a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian capital and as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushes Western partners to keep providing military support for the war.
Austin said on the X platform that his fourth visit shows “that the United States, alongside the international community, continues to stand by Ukraine.”
Ukraine is having difficulty holding back a ferocious Russian campaign along the eastern front that is gradually compelling Kyiv’s forces to give up a series of towns, villages and hamlets.
Zelenskyy is urging Western allies to support his so-called “victory plan” to end the almost three-year war, which is Europe’s biggest since World War II and has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including many civilians.
His strategy includes a formal invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use Western long-range missiles to strike military targets in Russia — steps that Kyiv’s allies have previously balked at supporting.
The Western response has been lukewarm, and Austin was expected to discuss the plan with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said in a Sunday evening video address that his plan had won the backing of France, Lithuania, Nordic countries and “many other allies” in the European Union, which he didn’t name.
The key country, however, is the United States, which is Ukraine’s biggest military supplier.
Zelenskyy said he had received “very positive signals from the United States,” but he stopped short of saying he had secured Washington’s endorsement for the plan.
Analysts say the U.S. is unlikely to make a decision before the Nov. 5. presidential election.
Russian strikes highlight Ukraine’s need for weapons
The latest Russian strikes on Ukraine, targeting Kyiv, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, rammed home the urgency for Kyiv officials of clinching guarantees of more support, particularly large amounts of ammunition for the war of attrition the sides are engaged in.
A Russian missile attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia injured 14 people in the city center and caused huge damage to civilian infrastructure, including a kindergarten and more than 30 residential buildings, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.
Russia conducted a ballistic missile strike at Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, injuring five people, city administration head Oleksandr Vilkul wrote on social media.
According to Vilkul, Russia has conducted ballistic missile attacks on Kryvyi Rih for three consecutive days, injuring the total of 21 people and damaging dozens of residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
Machine gunfire and the noise of drones’ engines was also heard in Kyiv’s center throughout the night. Authorities reported minor damages to civilian infrastructure caused by falling drone debris in three districts.
Russia fired three missiles and more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight from Sunday to Monday, Ukraine’s air force said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara on Monday to discuss cooperation between their countries.
According to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, the meeting focused on strengthening strategic relations, defense cooperation and addressing global food security through Black Sea grain shipments from Ukraine that pass through Turkey’′ Bosphorus Strait.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to steer a balanced line in his NATO-member country’s close relations with both Ukraine and Russia. He has previously offered to host a peace summit between the two countries.
