(Kyiv) New airstrikes hit Kyiv and several parts of Ukraine at dawn on Thursday, when a Chinese envoy is in the capital to try to obtain a “political settlement” of the conflict.
“A series of aerial attacks on Kyiv, unprecedented in their power, intensity and variety, continues. This is the ninth consecutive air attack on the capital since the beginning of May! “, said the civil and military administration of the capital in a press release.
According to her, cruise missiles were launched by Russian strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea region, and reconnaissance drones then flew over the capital. “All enemy targets in Kyiv airspace have been detected and destroyed,” she said.
A fire broke out in a company following a fall of debris, but no injuries were reported, the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, said on Telegram.
A death in Odessa
On the other hand, one person was killed and two others injured in the port of Odessa, on the Black Sea, during an attack on an industrial site, according to the regional military administration.
The military also reported “cruise missile” attacks in the Vinnytsia region in the center of the country, and local media reported explosions in Khmelnytskyi, some 100 kilometers further west.
These new attacks occur during a visit to Kyiv by a senior Chinese official, Li Hui, special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Moscow, who is supposed, according to Beijing, to discuss the “political settlement” of the conflict.
Mr. Li met on Wednesday with the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba, who “explained in detail to the Chinese special representative the principles of restoring a lasting and just peace, based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
“He stressed that Ukraine does not accept any proposal that would imply the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict,” he added.
Kyiv fears being pushed, in the long term, to accept a compromise with Moscow, and demands a return of all the territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea annexed in 2014.
Possible meeting with Zelensky
A meeting between Mr. Li and President Volodymyr Zelensky is “possible”, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Wednesday on condition of anonymity. This exchange would be a first between Mr. Zelensky, who encourages Beijing to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a senior Chinese official.
Li Hui’s journey will also take him to Poland, France, Germany and Russia.
China, a close partner of Moscow, has never publicly condemned the Russian invasion. And during a visit to Moscow in March, President Xi Jinping gave marked symbolic support to Mr. Putin.
Beijing in February offered a 12-point plan to end the war, viewed with skepticism by Westerners.
Mr. Li’s visit to Kyiv comes just after a European tour by Mr. Zelensky, during which he received the promise of new arms deliveries needed to launch a major counter-offensive.
He was heard on several points – anti-aircraft missiles, attack drones, armored vehicles… – and progressed towards the delivery of Western combat planes, which the Europeans are reluctant to provide.
The United States also confirmed on Wednesday that a Patriot system had been damaged by an unidentified projectile, but remained operational.
On Tuesday, the Russian army claimed to have destroyed a Patriot battery with a “high precision strike” carried out “by a hypersonic missile “Kinjal””.
Extended grain agreement
Washington had announced at the end of 2022 the delivery to Kyiv of Patriot systems, capable of shooting down cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and aircraft at an altitude significantly higher than that of the defense systems which had been provided until then.
The UN Security Council is due to meet Thursday (3 p.m. EST) to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Moscow and Kyiv extended their vital grain deal for global food, after mediation by Turkey and the UN.
This agreement on the export via the Black Sea of Ukrainian cereals, concluded in July 2022 in Istanbul and which expired Thursday evening, has been extended “by two months”, announced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The agreement has made it possible to export more than 30 million tonnes of Ukrainian cereals in the last ten months, and to relieve the world food crisis caused by the war. Its extension “is good news for the world,” reacted UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.