EU summons Russian ambassador after strike damages mission in Kyiv Photo

The European Union has summoned Russia’s ambassador in Brussels after a Russian strike damaged the EU delegation’s building in Kyiv, the bloc’s top diplomat said on August 28.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas announced the move in a statement on X, describing the attack as unacceptable.

“I just spoke with my colleagues in the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine in Kyiv, after our building was damaged by a Russian strike,” Kallas said.

“Your resolve to keep supporting Ukraine gives us strength. No diplomatic mission should ever be a target. In response, we are summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels.”

At least 15 people, including four children, have been killed and dozens more wounded in a heavy overnight Russian bombardment of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.

Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, reported that more than 20 sites were struck across the capital, with the deadliest hit on a five-storey residential building that was reduced to rubble.

“The children killed were aged two, 14 and 17,” Tkachenko said, adding that at least five more children were wounded and that “many buildings, including a kindergarten, had caught fire.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Kremlin had chosen “ballistics instead of the negotiating table” and reiterated the need for “new, tough sanctions” on Russia. Ukrainian forces said Russia launched almost 600 drones and more than 30 ballistic and cruise missiles, calling it the biggest attack on the capital this month.

The headquarters of the European Union delegation in Kyiv and the nearby British Council building were also damaged.

European Council President António Costa said he was “horrified” by the strikes, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged that “Russia must stop its indiscriminatory attacks on civilian infrastructure immediately and join negotiations for a just and lasting peace.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev