With civilian casualties climbing to their worst levels since the opening months of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is convening its most important European supporters today in Kyiv to push for urgent air-defence supplies and tougher pressure on Moscow.
The gathering of the Coalition of the Willing will be jointly chaired by the leaders of Britain, France and Germany.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is travelling to Kyiv for his first foreign visit since taking office, while several other leaders are expected to take part remotely.
EU Council President Antonio Costa is also scheduled to attend the talks, which come as the conflict enters a deadly new phase.
In recent weeks, Russia has repeatedly targeted Kyiv with ballistic missiles, smashing apartment blocks and killing dozens of civilians in the capital.
The intensifying campaign has driven civilian deaths to their highest levels since the first months of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia could produce around 100 ballistic missiles a month
After nearly every strike — as tens of thousands shelter in the Kyiv metro and many more crowd into basements and other safe rooms across the city — President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed publicly for additional air-defence help.
As the meeting approached, Ukraine pressed ahead with its own offensive against Russian logistics, striking several warehouses linked to e-commerce company Ozon.
Ozon said early this morning that fires broke out at its warehouses in Krasnodar and Makhachkala, both in southern Russia, and added that facilities in Adygeysk and Nevinnomyssk were evacuated amid threats of drone attack.
Russian authorities also said falling debris from a Ukrainian drone strike killed two children and injured nine other people.
UK, French support
Andy Burnham will be in Kyiv for his first international trip since taking office
Ukraine is marking independence day today, a date that also marks exactly four-and-a-half years since Russia invaded on 24 February, 2022.
“Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve,” Mr Burnham said in a statement ahead of his arrival in Kyiv.
“We will not back down until there is a just and lasting peace.”
Efforts to end what has become Europe’s largest war since World War II have effectively stalled.
Moscow is insisting on hardline territorial and political concessions — demands Kyiv has rejected as a capitulation that would only set the stage for another Russian assault.
Mr Burnham is expected to announce that the British government is authorising defence firm MBDA to release classified information needed to help Ukraine and France establish local production of the long-range SCALP missile.
On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would provide new interceptor missiles.
“It is crucial to provide Ukraine with all the necessary means to defend its skies and thwart this aggression,” Mr Macron wrote on X.
The ballistic missiles Russia has been firing in large numbers are extremely fast and follow a high-arching flight path, factors that make them difficult to intercept.
Ukraine’s domestically produced weapons cannot shoot them down, leaving the country dependent on advanced systems — above all, US Patriot interceptors — to defend its skies.
But global shortages since the US launched its war on Iran have left Ukraine more exposed than before.
Ukraine’s missile shortfall
Volodymyr Zelensky said deliveries of crucial Patriot interceptors had halved since 2023
Before the meeting, Mr Zelensky laid out the scale of the gap, disclosing figures that are typically kept closely held.
He said shipments of vital Patriot interceptors have been cut in half since 2023.
“Over the entire of 2023, Ukraine received 675 missiles, and over all of 2025 – 364, even though Russian missile strikes have increased,” Mr Zelensky said.
“For 2026, as currently projected, it is 264,” he added, saying Ukraine wanted a package of at least 300 missiles ahead of the coming winter.
The United States is dealing with its own shortage of the interceptors during its war on Iran and has been reluctant to release large quantities to Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said Russia could produce around 100 ballistic missiles a month.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has stepped up long-range strikes of its own against Russian energy and logistics hubs, including oil refineries and retail warehouse sites.
The Coalition of the Willing is a Franco-British initiative aimed at sustaining support for Ukraine while escalating pressure on Russia.
Initially envisioned as a group prepared to deploy peacekeeping troops if a ceasefire were reached, it has increasingly become a parallel channel for mobilising aid as questions linger over US commitments under Donald Trump.
