UK premier dismisses Russian threats

The United Kingdom will keep providing defence aid to Ukraine despite Russia's threats, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday on a visit to Kyiv where allies gathered to discuss support. Air defence supplies are due to be the main priority at the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, jointly chaired by the leaders of France and Germany, who will participate remotely, and by Britain's Burnham. Burnham has arrived in Kyiv for his first trip abroad since taking office, alongside other European leaders and EU Council President Antonio Costa. "Despite Russia's outrageous threats to my country, we will continue our support for Ukraine's defence," Burnham said in a speech delivered on Ukraine's independence day and ahead of the meeting. Russia has recently pounded Kyiv with ballistic missiles, ripping open apartment blocks and killing dozens in the capital. The escalating Russian strikes have pushed civilian deaths to their highest levels since the first months of Moscow's 2022 invasion. A Russian drone attack on Chernigiv, north of the capital, wounded 15 people, Ukraine emergency services said. "Right now, things are really very difficult for all of us. But there is a force holding us firmly by the hand," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address to mark the occasion, adding: "It is the strength of our mutual circle". He called on allies to give Ukraine "everything it needs to stop this war". Also Monday, the European Union said that it had released another 6.1 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in military aid for Ukraine to boost its air defences. The finance is part of a 90 billion-euro loan, including 60 billion euros in military aid, that the EU has said will go to Ukraine. Ahead of the talks, Ukraine has forged ahead with its campaign against Russia's logistics sites, hitting multiple warehouses belonging to e-commerce giant Ozon. Ozon reported fires early Monday at its warehouses in Krasnodar and Makhachkala, both in southern Russia, adding that sites in Adygeysk and Nevinnomyssk were evacuated due to threats of drone attack. AFP