Ukraine's allies on Monday pledged to keep up their support amid Russia's escalating attacks and despite threats from Moscow, as they gathered in Kyiv on Ukraine's Independence Day. Air defence supplies were the main priority at the meeting of 30 leaders of the Coalition of the Willing, jointly chaired by the leaders of France and Germany, who participated remotely, and by Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Burnham has arrived in Kyiv for his first trip abroad since taking office, alongside other European leaders and EU Council President Antonio Costa. "Despite Russia's outrageous threats to my country, we will continue our support for Ukraine's defence," Burnham said.
Russian attacks are killing more civilians than at any time since the first months of the invasion. © Yuriy Dyachyshyn, AFP
Russia has recently pounded Kyiv with ballistic missiles, ripping open apartment blocks and killing dozens in the capital. The escalating Russian strikes have pushed civilian deaths to their highest levels since the first months of Moscow's 2022 invasion. A Russian drone attack on Chernigiv, north of the capital, wounded 15 people, Ukraine emergency services said, while one person was killed and nine wounded in a shelling of Izyum in the east according to the local authorities. "Right now, things are really very difficult for all of us. But there is a force holding us firmly by the hand," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address, adding: "It is the strength of our mutual circle".
