Putin’s forces launch drone attack on Kyiv during Sir Keir Starmer’s visit
16 January 2025, 12:01 | Updated: 16 January 2025, 14:28
Russia has launched a drone attack on Kyiv during Sir Keir Starmer’s visit.
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There were no casualties but debris from one of the attacks damaged a car.
The debris hit a car just minutes after the PM had laid a wreath with President Zelenskyy at the Wall of Memorial in the city centre.
Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko confirmed the Russian drone attack at around 10.16am UK time.
He later confirmed there were no reported injuries.
He said: "In the Solomyanskyi district of the capital, a piece of UAV debris damaged a passenger car.
"It tore apart the engine and partially the car's interior. There was no fire.
"There are no injuries at this time either."
Sir Keir Starmer went on to visit wounded Ukrainians at a Kyiv hospital specialising in treating burns.
After a private tour of the intensive care unit, he met two patients on a rehabilitation ward that receives support from the British Red Cross.
The Prime Minister said the injuries he saw at the hospital were "a grim reminder of the heavy price that Ukraine is paying".
One patient called Petro, a civilian from Kyiv with burns across both hands and arms, warned Sir Keir: "If Ukraine falls, so does Europe."
Sir Keir Starmer told broadcasters in Kyiv: "It's very important we ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position.
"That's something I've been arguing for since I was Prime Minister. This is my seventh meeting with President Zelensky. I'm here at the burns unit of one of the Kyiv hospitals, which is a grim reminder of the heavy price Ukraine is paying.
"So we must give the necessary support, and that's what I'm discussing with President Zelensky today. We must never let up on that and we've been leading the way."
He said the 100 Year Partnership he was signing with Ukraine was a "real statement of our intent for the long term".
"So I'm here for both those purposes but the main one is to make sure Ukraine is in the strongest possible position during 2025."
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin's war had been a failure, and "one of the consequences of this conflict has been to draw Nato more strongly together".
"It's bigger and stronger than it has been, and we must stand behind Ukraine for as long as it takes.
"But when we say Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position, that can't be just words.
"And that's why I've had such intense discussions with President Zelensky over the months that I've been Prime Minister and will again here in Ukraine."
