NATO Chief Says No Sign Drone Debris In Romania Result Of ‘Intentional Attack By Russia’

Ukrainian officials said at least 17 people were killed and many others wounded in a Russian missile strike on a busy market in the eastern city of Kostyantynivka, sparking immediate condemnation from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the United Nations, and Kyiv’s allies.

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A video of the attack, posted on social media by Ukrainian officials, showed people falling in the streets in the area where the missile hit in the industrial city, which is near Bakhmut and the front line of the war.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said 17 people died and 32 were injured, adding that the search and rescue operation had been completed. Zelenskiy said a child was among the dead.

“This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible,” Zelenskiy said, describing the missile strike as a deliberate attack on a “peaceful city.”

Denise Brown, the UN’s humanitarian envoy for Ukraine, denounced the attack as “despicable,” and the European Union condemned it as “heinous and barbaric.”

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said these “brutal Russian attacks” underscore the importance of continuing to support the people of Ukraine.

The attack came during an unannounced visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with top Ukrainian officials in Kyiv as he pledged U.S. support for Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive and “what it needs for the long term.”

Blinken announced new aid for Ukraine totaling more than $1 billion, including over $665 million in military and civilian security assistance and millions of dollars in support for Ukraine’s air defenses and other areas.

“We will continue to stand by Ukraine’s side,” Blinken told reporters at a press conference with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The U.S. State Department said Blinken’s visit was intended to demonstrate the United States’ “unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy, especially in the face of Russia’s aggression.”

Unnamed U.S. officials told reporters traveling with Blinken that he would also announce a new military aid package of between $175 million and $200 million, with another, larger package expected to be announced later this week.

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Blinken, who traveled to Kyiv by train, met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during the journey, according to a State Department spokesman, who said Blinken thanked Frederiksen for Denmark’s offer to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and for promising to donate the jets to Kyiv.

In a speech to Ukraine’s parliament, Frederiksen told lawmakers that the world was in awe of Ukrainians’ “incredible strength” and their “will never to give in” in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022.

“Your fight is our fight,” she said.

After arriving, Blinken laid a wreath at a Kyiv cemetery commemorating members of the Ukrainian armed forces killed while defending the country, according to press reports.

“We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long-term, to make sure that it has a strong deterrent,” Blinken said in Kyiv. speaking alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

“We’re also determined to continue to work with our partners as they build and rebuild a strong economy, strong democracy.”

The trip is Blinken’s fourth to Ukraine since Russia launched its ful-scale invasion.

Ukraine is in the third month of a major counteroffensive against Russia forces that it hopes will decisively shift the momentum of the war.

While Ukrainian forces have made some progress in the southern Zaporizhzhiya region, and in the eastern Donetsk region, the advances have been small. Some of Ukraine’s Western backers have expressed frustration at the slow pace of the offensive.

Ahead of the visit, Russia again targeted the Ukrainian capital with cruise missiles. In a post on Telegram, Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said air defenses shot down the missiles, and there were no casualties or damage to the city in the early morning attack.

In Izmayil, a Danube River port southwest of Odesa, at least one person was killed in Russian drone attacks that lasted for three hours. Oleh Kiper, the region’s governor, said on Telegram.

The port and some connected agricultural infrastructure had also been damaged, he said.

Izmayil borders NATO member Romania, which has become a major route for Ukrainian grain and agricultural shipments out of the country following Russia’s withdrawal in July from a United Nations deal that had allowed maritime shipments of Ukrainian products via the Black Sea.

Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine’s Odesa and Mykolayiv regions in recent weeks as talks on reviving the deal continue.

Blinken’s meetings with Ukrainian officials were also expected to touch on alternative export routes for Ukrainian grain.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials complained that Russian drones had hit Romanian territory, a claim that Bucharest later “categorically denied.”

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on September 5 that the attacks had taken place “very, very close” to his country’s border.

Blinken’s trip to Kyiv was his first since September 2022, and comes with Zelenskiy trying to tamp down concerns that his government was not doing enough to root out some of the endemic corruption Ukraine has grappled with for years.

Anti-corruption activists and some lawmakers have raised questions about weapons contracts and procurement procedures. Some lawmakers in the United States, Ukraine’s biggest donor of military equipment, have voiced concerns.

Last month, Zelenskiy dismissed the heads of all military recruitment centers, amid questions of draft-eligible-age men being illegally allowed to leave the country. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister also resigned after facing allegations of corruption.

Earlier this week, Zelenskiy sacked Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, who has served as the defense chief since before Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Last week, White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan met with three top Ukrainian officials to discuss efforts to tackle wartime graft.

With reporting by AP and Reuters