The Polish, Czech, and Slovenian prime ministers were travelling to Kyiv by train Tuesday in the first visit by foreign leaders to Ukraine’s besieged capital since Russia invaded last month.
The visit coincided with an announcement from the Department of Foreign Affairs that 370 Filipinos were assisted by the Philippine government in departing Ukraine, invaded on February 24 by Russia.
Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said at least 286 Filipinos were repatriated, while 84 Filipinos were evacuated or out of Ukraine.
Arriola said at least 24 Filipinos were expected to arrive on Tuesday.
The prime ministers’ visit comes as Russia pummels targets across Ukraine including Kyiv, which has nearly been encircled by Moscow troops, and as Russia and Ukraine are due to resume talks to end the nearly three-week war.
Mateusz Morawiecki, Petr Fiala, and Janez Jansa are visiting as “representatives” of the European Union and are due to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Polish government said in a statement.
“In such crucial times for the world, it is our duty to be in the place where history is being made,” Morawiecki said in a Facebook post.
“Because this is not about us, it is about the future of our children who deserve to live in a world free from tyranny,” he said.
The government statement said that the visit had been organized “in agreement” with European Council chief Charles Michel and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
“The purpose of the visit is to confirm the unequivocal support of the entire European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and to present a broad package of support for the Ukrainian state and society,” the statement said.
Top Polish government official Michal Dworczyk said the train crossed into Ukraine at around 0730 GMT (3.30 Tuesday afternoon Manila time).
The trio is accompanied by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland’s populist right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, and will also meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal.
“Europe must send a strong signal for peace!” Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller tweeted.
Meanwhile, a series of powerful explosions rocked the residential districts of Kyiv early Tuesday, killing two people, just hours before talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume.
At least three large blasts were heard from the center of the capital, sending columns of smoke high into the sky.
As dawn broke the damage became clear, with one strike hitting a large 16-story housing block.
There, a fire raged, and smoke billowed from the charred husk of the building, as emergency services and stunned locals navigated an obstacle course of glass, metal and other debris littering the road.
“The bodies of two people were recovered, 27 people were rescued,” Ukraine’s emergency service said.
Another residential building in the Podilsk area also came under attack.
Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko posted a photo of a fire crew extinguishing a smoldering fire there—the building’s facade transformed into a mess of bent and tangled window frames and precariously dangling air conditioning units.
Just hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—wearing his now-signature military-green crew neck—issued a new video address sounding a note of cautious optimism about ongoing peace talks.
He claimed Russia was beginning to realize victory would not come on the battlefield.
“They have already begun to understand that they will not achieve anything by war,” Zelensky said.
“Pretty good, as I was told,” he said of Monday’s first day of discussions. “But let’s see. They will continue tomorrow.”
The two sides are still far apart in the negotiations, with Moscow demanding Ukraine turn away from the West and recognize Moscow-backed breakaway regions.
Ukrainian negotiators say they want “peace, an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops.”
The capital Kyiv is surrounded to the north and east and nearly half its population of three million people have fled. Only roads to the south remain open, city authorities have set up checkpoints and residents are stockpiling food and medicine.
The United Nations estimates almost 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine and some 636 civilian deaths have been recorded, including
dozens of children. The true toll is likely far higher.
Russia’s military progress has been slow and costly, with Moscow apparently underestimating the strength of Ukrainian resistance.
Many military experts believe Russia’s military now needs time to regroup and resupply its troops, paving the way for a possible pause or slowdown in fighting.
The head of Russia’s national guard Viktor Zolotov has reportedly admitted the operation was “not going as fast as we would like” but
said victory would come step-by-step.
Moscow has reportedly turned to Beijing for military and economic help—prompting what one US official said were several hours of “very candid” talks between high-ranking US and Chinese officials.
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his nation did not want to be impacted by Western sanctions on Russia, as US pressure grows on Beijing to withdraw support from Moscow.
“China is not a party to the crisis, still less wants to be affected by the sanctions,” Wang said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces “to hold back on any immediate assault on large cities” according to Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who cited “civilian losses” as the reason for stalling an attack.
He added however that the defense ministry “does not rule out” the possibility of putting large cities “under its full control.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s allies have piled pressure on Putin’s regime with unprecedented economic sanctions, and the Kremlin faces domestic pressure despite widespread censorship of the war.
During Russia’s most-watched evening news broadcast on Monday, a dissenting employee entered the studio holding up a poster saying
“Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda.”
Meanwhile, Russian troops have kept up their siege of southern Mariupol, where officials said nearly 2,200 people have been killed.
In a glimmer of hope for residents of the besieged port city, more than 160 civilian cars were able to leave along a humanitarian evacuation route Monday after several failed attempts.
In other developments, Moscow-backed separatists said fragments from a shot-down Ukrainian Tochka-U missile ripped through the center of the eastern city of Donetsk, killing 23 people.
Moscow called it a “war crime” and rebels published images of bloody corpses strewn in the street.
But Ukraine’s army denied firing a missile at the city, with Ukrainian army spokesman Leonid Matyukhin saying in a statement: “It is unmistakably a Russian rocket or another munition.”
Earlier on Monday, Zelensky renewed his call for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country — a day after at least 35 people were
killed in Russian air strikes near the border with NATO.