The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Kyiv for an unannounced visit that is his first for a year to the Ukrainian capital.
He is expected to announce a new package of US assistance of $175m-$200m during the two-day visit, AP reported, with a larger package worth more than $1bn expected later this week, according to a senior state department official.
Blinken will meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, and the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The visit comes shortly after Zelenskiy fired his defence minister amid a number of corruption scandals over military procurement, and as Ukraine’s military counteroffensive grinds on in the south-east of the country.
US media have frequently quoted unnamed US officials criticising the counteroffensive as too slow and poorly planned, which has irritated Ukrainian officials.
An unnamed US official told Reuters that Blinken wanted to get a first-hand assessment of the counteroffensive during the trip.
“What’s most important is that we get a real assessment from the Ukrainians themselves,” the official said. “We want to see, hear how they intend to push forward in the coming weeks.”
In the hours before Blinken’s arrival, Russia launched a new wave of air attacks on the capital, with missiles shot down by Ukrainian air defences, Ukrainian officials claimed. Loud explosions could be heard in Kyiv shortly before 6am.
“Another missile attack by the enemy on a peaceful city,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, said on Telegram. Officials said damage had been caused to buildings by falling debris but there were no casualties.
In southern Ukraine, where Russia has been targeting grain export facilities in recent weeks, a three-hour drone attack killed one person and damaged agricultural and port facilities, the Odesa regional governor said.
“An employee of an agricultural enterprise, who was seriously injured, died in the hospital,” said Oleh Kiper.
