Ukrainian officials say Russia attacked the regions of Odessa, Kharkiv and Kyiv overnight into Friday morning with drones, missiles and aerial bombs, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure and killing at least one person and injuring at least 25.
Regional officials in Kharkiv say a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a 12-story residential building in the early morning hours Friday. They said the bomb struck the first three floors. A search was underway for anyone trapped in the rubble.
In Odessa, police and emergency service officials told the news agency Agence France-Presse that a Russian drone struck several residential buildings, sparking fires in some. They said a 46-year-old man was killed when his car was struck by shrapnel, and at least nine others were injured.
The Odessa officials reported shrapnel from the attacks ruptured fuel lines, causing several fires.
On social media platform X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces shot down four missiles and approximately 60 drones launched by Russia against Ukraine overnight Thursday.
“Each time Russia attempts to destroy our lives, it is crucial to respond collectively and decisively at the international level to reduce and block the potential for terror,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Ukraine needs strength to achieve this. This is the only way to achieve a just peace and to ending the killing of our people.”
He called for more air defenses, long-range capabilities, weapons packages and sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskyy took that message to the European Political Community Summit in Budapest on Thursday, where he met with European leaders and reportedly reached new defense agreements to strengthen Ukrainian forces, along with agreements on positive steps toward reinforcing air defenses before winter.
But while most European leaders signaled continued support for Ukraine’s war effort, there were indications President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. elections this week could change that picture.
In a radio interview Friday, the host of that summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has close ties to Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said U.S. support for Ukraine will end with the election of Trump and that Europe needs to rethink its approach to the war.
“The Americans will quit this war,” Orban told Hungarian state radio and indicated he felt Europe must follow suit.
“Europe cannot finance this war alone, there are some who still want it, who still want to continue sending enormous amounts of money into this lost war, but the number of those who remain silent, though they were loud before, and those who cautiously voice that we should adjust to the new situation, is growing," Orban said.
The Hungarian leader made the comments ahead of the European Union summit Friday in Budapest. Before that meeting, outgoing European Council President Charles Michel told reporters Europe wants to strengthen ties with the United States and continue strengthening Ukraine.
“We have to support Ukraine because if we do not support Ukraine, this is the wrong signal that we send to Putin but also to some other authoritarian regimes across the world," Michel said.
Trump has criticized the level of U.S. support for Ukraine's fight against Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion. Before the election, he promised to end the conflict before even taking office, without explaining how.
At a White House briefing Thursday, spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the U.S. will keep delivering aid to Ukraine ahead of President Joe Biden's transfer of power to Trump in late January.
"That's not going to change. We're going to surge and get that out there to Ukraine. We understand how important it is to make sure they have what they need," Jean-Pierre said.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Thursday the Defense Department has about $2 billion available for Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and $4 billion the U.S. military can draw from its own weapons stockpiles to provide to Kyiv.
"What you're seeing us continue to do is send out those presidential drawdown packages. That will continue," Singh told reporters at the Pentagon.
VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
