Russian attacks hit Ukraine’s grid as NATO backs air defense (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Russia has pounded Ukraine with drones and ballistic missiles overnight, targeting energy systems and injuring at least seven people in the capital Kiev and the cities of Dnipro and Odessa, officials say. 2,600 buildings are now without power in the capital after what Mayor Vitaly Klitschko called a massive attack on Kiev. Two people were hurt there. Separately in the southern city of Odessa, nearly 300,000 residents were left without electricity or running water following a Russian attack. According to the country's Deputy Prime Minister, almost 200 buildings in the city also lost heating. Well that latest attack on Ukraine comes as a leading German economic think-tank says USAID for Ukraine fell by 99% in 2025, reflecting the change in US policy. In its report, the Kiel Institute says Europe's contributions have sharply increased in response and reached levels which almost offset the collapse of American support. Its data shows that European allocations for financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine grew by 59%, mostly backed by EU institutions. Military aid increased by two-thirds and was dominated by countries in northern and western Europe. Other UK governments announced that it will urgently provide new air defense missiles and systems worth more than 500 million pounds to Ukraine to protect against Russian attacks. For the first time, this will include 150 million pounds worth of equipment bought from the US as part of a NATO initiative. Well in the last hour, the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, has been giving a briefing shortly before hosting a meeting of defense ministers. Let's have a listen to what he had to say.

[00:01:44] Speaker 2: As the United States continues to drive efforts to bring the war to a just and lasting end, Russia continues to pursue civilian targets, including energy infrastructure. So it is still essential that Allies continue to step up support, including through NATO's Pearl Initiative. It is ensuring that essential US equipment is delivered to Ukraine, paid for by Allies and partners. This afternoon, we will hold a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. We will be joined by Defense Minister Mikhailo Fedorov, and he will brief us on the situation on the ground and on Ukraine's long-term needs. We will also be joined by the Office of the EU High Representatives, as we work closely with the European Union on Ukraine, and of course on so many other issues. Ukraine's security is linked with our own. We must ensure that when this war ends, Russia will never try again to invade Ukraine.

[00:02:48] Speaker 1: Mark Rutte there. Well let's go straight to Kyiv and join our correspondent there, Sarah Rainsford. Sarah, let's start with what has happened overnight, those extensive attacks, not just hitting where you are in Kyiv, but other parts of the country as well.

[00:03:03] Speaker 3: Another night of Russian attacks in which they targeted all the big cities here in Ukraine. Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odessa in the south were all targeted with missiles and drones. This time, 24 missiles were told by the Ukrainian authorities, 220 or so drones, and some of those of course did get through, which underlines the point that Ukraine makes over and over again, that it needs proper air defences, it needs more air defence missiles, in order in particular to intercept ballistic missiles that Russia continues to use to target Ukraine. We know this morning that here in Kyiv, according to the mayor, another 2,500 or so tower blocks have been left without heating after one power plant in particular was hit overnight. We saw the images from there. We visited a power plant here in Kyiv ourselves in recent days and seen the absolute devastation of that power plant by repeated strikes with ballistic missiles by Russia. So it is quite clear that they are targeting the energy infrastructure and that happened again overnight last night.

[00:04:08] Speaker 1: Indeed, and of course all of this comes as we have got that announcement that the UK government has announced it is going to fund more defence missiles and systems to the tune of some £500 million. As we said in the introduction, Sarah, that could help plug the shortfall from US funding. What is your assessment of how significant this will be in terms of assisting the Ukrainian military?

[00:04:34] Speaker 3: Yes, I mean, this pearl system, as it is called, that was introduced last year by the European Union is supposed to make up for the complete lack now of donations, military aid from the United States. It is a significant, of course, contribution by the European Union and many countries have committed to take part in that. This is the first time that the UK has specifically donated its £150 million in terms of... £150 million in order to buy US weaponry in order to protect Ukraine's skies. So that is a significant donation but there are multiple countries, for example Italy, which has said that it won't pay any money into the pearl system whilst there are negotiations going on for a peace deal because it doesn't think that it is worth it. So there is obviously a massive political discussion going on amongst NATO members about who contributes what and how much Ukraine needs now that the United States is no longer providing anything for free to hear in Ukraine. So it is a big ongoing discussion, £150 million is a lot but Ukraine says over and over again it needs a lot more than that in order to protect its cities, particularly as those Russian strikes continue. We know in the negotiations that have been taking place over recent weeks between Russia and Ukraine that the United States has been pushing for another energy truce, as they call it, a pause in the strikes by both sides on energy infrastructure but that hasn't happened. Ukraine has said it is willing to do that, Russia hasn't responded only with further attacks. Okay, Sarah Rainsford in Kiev as always, thank you very much for bringing us up to date.