NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte travelled to the port city of Odessa with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday.
“Ukraine’s people have endured so much – not least Russia’s Palm Sunday attack on Sumy,” Rutte wrote on the platform X.
Rutte assured Ukraine of continued support from the Western military alliance NATO.
On Sunday, at least 35 people were killed in a Russian missile attack on Sumy.
Zelensky posted a video of the joint visit to a military hospital in Odessa on his Telegram channel. The head of state awarded medals to wounded people in the presence of Rutte.
During their joint talks, the strengthening of Ukraine’s air defence was discussed in particular.
“Absolutely everyone sees how urgent Ukraine’s need is for air-defence systems and missiles for them,” wrote Zelensky. He reiterated Kiev’s willingness to purchase Patriot air-defence systems.
Zelensky warned US negotiators in talks with Russia against making inadmissible concessions on the occupied territories of Ukraine.
“All territories belong to the unitary state of Ukraine,” Zelensky told a press conference with Rutte.
Only the Ukrainian people would decide on their national territory, Zelensky said.
“And you know that this is a red line for us – not to recognize any temporarily occupied territories as Ukrainian, but as Russian,” Zelensky added, as reported by local media.
Zelensky moves to dismiss Sumy governor after deadly strike
Zelensky initiated proceedings on Tuesday to dismiss the military governor of the north-eastern Sumy region, following the devastating Russian missile strike.
The government backed the efforts to dismiss Volodymyr Artyukh, its parliamentary representative Taras Melynchuck wrote on Telegram.
On Monday, Artyukh confirmed that military personnel had gathered for an award ceremony in the city of Sumy at the time of the attack. He stressed, however, that he had not initiated the event.
Artyukh has been military governor of the Sumy region for almost two years.
Deadly 24 hours
Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least six civilians within 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.
A man was killed in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya, Governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram, while in the neighbouring Donetsk region, another was killed in the city of Pokrovsk, located a few kilometres from the front line.
Earlier, four people were reported killed in the eastern region of Kharkiv. Some 17 people were injured in the attacks.
Russia not spared
For its part, the Russian military reported downing 115 Ukrainian drones – 109 of them above the western border region of Kursk.
An 85-year-old woman was killed and nine people were injured in the Ukrainian attack, according to Russian news agency TASS, which cited local authorities in Kursk. They said two dozen residential buildings had been damaged.
Several buildings caught fire, according to TASS, including a garage used for ambulances.
The information could not be independently verified.
In recent months, Russia has carried out multiple drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Kiev has been defending itself against an all-out Russian invasion since February 24, 2022.
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