Kiev

European Union ministers on April 22 said Europe must still speed up its arms deliveries to Ukraine, after U.S. lawmakers eased pressure by unblocking a major aid package.

But at a meeting of EU defense and foreign ministers in Luxembourg there was no sign of more pledges of vitally needed air defense for Kiev.

Russia said Sunday its forces had gained territory near the key battleground town of Chasiv Yar in east Ukraine, highlighting the pressure facing Kiev as it gears up to receive $61 billion in new U.S. aid.

Ukraine meanwhile reported renewed Russian strikes against its civilians.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday approved long-delayed military aid to Ukraine in a rare show of bipartisan unity, while also bolstering Israel and Taiwan defenses and threatening to ban Chinese-owned TikTok.

This handout photograph taken and released by State Emergency Service of Ukraine on April 2, 2024, shows firefighters working to extinguishing a fire that authorities said has been damaged during a missile strike, in the eastern city of Dnipro

Russia said Thursday that fresh U.S. aid for Ukraine will not change the dynamics on the battlefield, as Washington gears up for a crucial weekend vote on long-stalled military funding for Kiev.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday he would advance a $61 billion package of funding for Ukraine, stalled since last year amid political infighting in the Republican Party.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed Thursday the "urgent" need for the U.S. Congress to pass a new military aid package for Kiev as he met Ukraine's foreign minister.

Blinken held talks with Dmytro Kuleba during a meeting of ministers from the Group of Seven countries — Italy, France, Germany, the UK, the U.S., Japan and Canada — in the Italian island of Capri.

Three Russian missiles crashed into Ukraine's historic city of Chernigiv on Wednesday, killing 18 people as officials pleaded for more air defence systems from allies.

Pools of blood gathered on the street at the scene of one strike, where rescuers searched for survivors in the rubble and carried away the wounded on stretchers, official images showed.

A Russian strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv Wednesday killed  at least 11 people and 20 wounded more, as Kiev again sounded the alarm over shortages in its air defense capabilities.

First responders searched for survivors in rubble, carrying away the wounded on stretchers as a pool of blood formed on the ground near the scene of the strikes, official images showed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a controversial mobilisation bill aimed at boosting troop numbers, parliament said Tuesday.

The parliament's website said the bill had been "returned with the signature of the President" on April 16, after receiving final approval from lawmakers last week.

Russia was able to destroy a key power plant serving Kiev because Ukraine ran out of defensive missiles, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday.

For three-and-a-half weeks, Russia has launched near continuous strikes on Ukraine's power grid, leaving over a million people without electricity.