Russia launches airstrike on Ukraine ahead of G7 summit to slow Moscow’s offensive

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched an airstrike on Kiev and five other areas in Ukraine overnight, officials said Wednesday. The incident came a day before leaders of some of Ukraine’s biggest backers were scheduled to discuss how to slow Moscow’s war effort.

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down more than two dozen air targets, including cruise missiles, a Kinzhal ballistic missile and Shahed drones. Several people were injured, authorities said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the air force’s response and said it could be a “daily achievement” if the country had the means to successfully repel Russian attacks. He has repeatedly called on Ukraine’s Western partners to provide more air defense systems, and the United States has agreed to another Patriot missile systemtwo U.S. officials said late Tuesday.

Kiev’s outnumbered and outgunned forces are struggling to stop the larger Russian army that is trying to exploit Ukrainian vulnerabilities. Ukraine has been short of troops, ammunition and air defenses in recent months as Kremlin forces try to paralyze the national power supply And break through the front line in the eastern parts of the country.

Ukraine needs to weather the Russian onslaught over the summer, military analysts say. In the meantime, it needs to train more soldiers, build fortifications and hope that the flow of Western military aid picks up so that Kyiv can potentially launch its own offensive in 2025.

Several diplomatic events in the next few days will focus on how to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion and how to bring about an end to the war.

On Thursday, Biden and the others Group of Seven Become a leader gather in Italy for their annual summit discuss Ways to help Ukraine, including how more frozen Russian assets could be diverted to Kyiv’s defense.

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it had expanded sanctions against Russia by specifically targeting companies that support Moscow’s war effort and by increasing the risks for foreign financial institutions that do business with sanctioned Russian companies.

The more than 300 new sanctions are aimed primarily at deterring individuals and companies in countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey from helping Moscow circumvent Western blockades on acquiring critical technology. They also threaten foreign financial institutions with sanctions if they do business with almost any sanctioned Russian company, underscoring the U.S. view that the Kremlin is pushing the Russian economy to a Readiness for war.

Biden and Zelensky will also sign a bilateral U.S.-Ukraine security agreement when they meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit on Thursday, the White House said. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the agreement would not result in U.S. troops being deployed directly to defend Ukraine, but it would show that the U.S. supports the Ukrainian people and serve as a “bridge” until Ukraine is invited to join NATO – a long-term priority of Zelensky that alliance members say requires an end to the war first.

While the G7 meets in Italy, defense ministers from the United States, Europe and other countries will meet in Brussels on Thursday for their monthly meeting on Ukraine’s security needs. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host the event.

And this weekend, representatives from nearly 90 countries and organizations, half of them from Europe, will attend a Summit in Switzerland The aim is to show a path to peace between Russia and Ukraine, but Russia will not participate.

Both sides in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have turned to friendly countries for help supplying their forces. The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilians, the United Nations said.

While Ukraine looks to Western countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned to countries such as Iran and North Korea for help. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Putin will soon third visit to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Moscow showed no signs of a slowdown in the war. The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Putin had met with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and the commanders of the five Russian military districts.

A transcript of Tuesday evening’s meeting said officials presented Putin with “plans to continue hostilities.”

Fighting along the roughly 1,000-kilometer-long front line has in recent months focused on the partially occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, from where Russian forces are trying to reach the important mountain town of Chasiv Yar and other strategic hubs.

Last month, Kremlin forces also launched an offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region, which borders Russia. Putin said he wanted to create a buffer zone there to prevent Ukrainian attacks across the border. The offensive drew some Ukrainian fighters out of Donetsk.

However, Russia’s successes were minor and costly.

In the Kharkiv region, Russian units are stuck in Vovchansk, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday via the messaging app Telegram.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine