President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrived in Britain on Monday to press for more military support for his embattled nation, just hours after a major Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv killed at least seven and injured over 30.
The attack was the latest in a series of deadly and intensifying Russian strikes on Ukraine. But concerns are growing in Kyiv that such assaults are drawing less attention and condemnation from Western allies as their focus shifts to the Middle East and America’s entry into the Israel-Iran war.
Against this backdrop, Mr. Zelensky’s visit to Britain — where he is expected to meet King Charles III, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and speakers of both houses of Parliament — seems aimed at keeping Ukraine at the top of his allies’ agenda. A senior Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously about the unannounced trip, said discussions would focus on securing more air defense systems for Ukraine and tightening sanctions on Russia.
Monday’s visit appears to be part of a broader European diplomatic push. On Wednesday, Mr. Zelensky will address the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights institution. In between, he may attend the NATO summit in The Hague, though he has yet to confirm his participation amid fears Ukraine could be sidelined during the talks.
Monday’s attack was the second lethal barrage on Kyiv in the past week. Last Tuesday, 28 people died in a Russian assault, most of them the victims of a strike on another apartment building. That was the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital in nearly a year.
The new salvo of strikes has reinforced many Ukrainians’ belief that Moscow is not interested in a cease-fire, especially as its military pushes ahead with a summer offensive in eastern Ukraine. A strike on Sunday in Kramatorsk, a city near the eastern front line, killed four people.
“Russia is once again striking at human lives and destinies,” Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Monday after the attack. “This is not a trend, not an accident — it is a plan.”
The seven people killed on Monday appeared to have been in a residential building that was struck. Ukraine’s emergency services released photos showing part of the five-story structure collapsed into rubble. As crews worked to clear the debris, officials warned that more people were probably still trapped beneath the wreckage.
Several European officials in Kyiv, including Katarina Mathernova, the European Union Ambassador, condemned the attack. Still, Ukraine worries that its most important ally, the United States, may further disengage from Ukraine’s war effort after joining Israel’s attacks on Iran over the weekend.
Last week, President Trump skipped a scheduled meeting with Mr. Zelensky, at the Group of 7 summit in Canada, citing the need to return to Washington to handle the situation in the Middle East.
Mr. Zelensky is likely to be worried that he could get similar treatment from world leaders at a NATO summit set to begin on Tuesday in The Hague. He has yet to announce whether he will join that meeting of leaders of the bloc, which has promised to eventually make Ukraine a member.
Western leaders’ shift in focus to the Middle East could leave Ukraine in a difficult position, stripped of the diplomatic leverage it hoped to use this year to end the war. Cease-fire talks have largely stalled, and without American support and pressure for more negotiations, Ukraine may have to endure a prolonged conflict on the battlefield, where its troops are slowly but steadily losing ground.
If he manages to speak with Mr. Trump face-to-face in The Hague, Mr. Zelensky has said, he plans to request authorization for the sale of U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine and to discuss new sanctions against Russia.
“Frankly, we need to talk about revitalizing diplomacy,” Mr. Zelensky told journalists last week. “We need more clarity and more global pressure on Putin.”
Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contributed reporting.
Constant Méheut reports on the war in Ukraine, including battlefield developments, attacks on civilian centers and how the war is affecting its people.
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