EU Chief Slams Russian ‘Atrocities’ After Kyiv Attack

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen slammed “horrible atrocities” by Moscow on Wednesday after a deadly attack on the Kyiv region, saying Ukraine would soon receive a new 1.4 billion euros raised from Russian assets to fund its war effort. “Russia must pay for the destruction it has caused,” warned the European Commission head in a statement. “And we are using the proceeds from the immobilised Russian assets to make sure it does.”JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Von der Leyen said the EU had on Monday received the latest tranche in windfall profits from Russian central bank assets immobilised in the bloc since the 2022 invasion, and would make the money available to Kyiv. “This will support Ukraine’s continued resistance against Russia’s illegal war,” she said. The EU froze around 200 billion euros of Russia’s international reserves as part of sweeping sanctions aimed at hindering Moscow’s war machine -- with much of it held in Euroclear, a Belgian-based clearing house. Four previous tranches of windfall profits from the frozen assets have been transferred to Kyiv, the latest in March this year, with Wednesday’s announcement bringing the total to eight billion euros. A more ambitious plan to tap the assets to support a massive loan for Ukraine fell by the wayside last year, with EU nations instead approving a 90-billion-euro loan backed by the bloc’s common budget to keep Kyiv funded through 2027. Other Topics of Interest North Korea May Deploy Missile Unit to Russia for Strikes on Ukraine, Kyiv Intel Warns The deployment would mark a significant expansion of military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, which has already supplied Russia with artillery shells, troops and ballistic missiles. Ukraine has appeared in recent months to be turning the tide in the four-year war by stabilising the front line and striking deep inside Russia. But Russia has also significantly upped its attacks on the Ukrainian capital, typically firing salvos of hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles -- with Kyiv warning it faces critical shortages of air defences. At least 17 people were killed and dozens more wounded in the latest overnight missile and drone barrage.