Russia's attack on Kiev prompts fresh calls in US and Europe for tougher action

2026-07-03 09:45:56, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russia's attack on Kiev prompts fresh calls in US and Europe for tougher

Russia carried out one of the largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital this year, reviving demands in the United States and Europe for stronger military and economic measures against Moscow.

Ukrainian officials said at least 27 people were killed and dozens more injured in the major attack on Kiev on July 2, which caused fires and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in several neighborhoods of the city.

The attack was immediately condemned by lawmakers in Washington, where the debate over future aid to Ukraine remains politically complicated.

Republican Joe Wilson of South Carolina, a longtime supporter of US aid to Ukraine, said the attacks are further evidence that the Kremlin is failing militarily.

"This horrific war crime is further proof that Russia is losing its war badly," Wilson told Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL).

"The United States and its allies need to do even more of what they are doing. The strategy is working. Russia is losing," he added.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022, expecting to take Kiev within weeks. But Ukraine, with Western support, has managed to hold off Russian forces and bring the war to a stalemate.

Wilson also described the July 2 attack as a sign ahead of next week's NATO summit in Turkey, where support for Ukraine is expected to be one of the main topics.

"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is desperate. He is a miserable loser who kills women and children," Wilson said. "We must fully support Ukraine and push for victory and a just resolution to the war."

Don Bacon of Nebraska, a senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, sharply criticized what he described as a lack of urgency from the Trump administration.

"We need to help Ukraine with missile systems and air defense, as well as impose strong sanctions on Russia," Bacon told REL.

Bacon added that there is growing concern in Congress about the Pentagon's strategic approach to Russia and NATO.

"Civilian leadership at the Pentagon has been weak on Russia and NATO," he said, adding that "silence in the face of Russia's war crimes" and "moral ambiguity" would leave a permanent stain on American policy.

In a joint statement shared with REL, leaders of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus — including Democrats Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Mike Quigley of Illinois, as well as Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Joe Wilson — called for immediate action.

"The House of Representatives has made it clear: The United States must immediately provide Ukraine with the tools it needs to protect its people and end Russia's war," the statement said.

They issued this statement shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following the attacks, reiterated his call for expanding cooperation in the field of air defense, focusing on domestic production of the Patriot air defense system.

Ukraine currently uses American MIM-104 Patriot batteries – the only systems in its arsenal capable of intercepting and destroying Russian ballistic missiles – but Kiev wants to produce them domestically.

"To protect the lives of citizens, we need our own production," Zelensky said.

In a video posted on social media, Zelensky said that talks with the US administration on this issue have been going on "for a long time" and called on President Donald Trump to move forward with this plan.

He argued that co-producing Patriot systems with Europe within Ukraine or together with allied countries could also strengthen the United States' industrial capacity.

In Washington, senior members of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group met with Trump administration officials and US lawmakers ahead of the NATO summit.

The delegation – which included Patryk Jaki, Adam Bielan, Assita Kanko and Stephen Bartulica – stated that it "strongly condemns" Russia's latest attack.

Speaking after meetings at the White House, the State Department and leading conservative policy institutes, ECR officials said they had noticed cautious optimism among American officials about the possibility of reaching a ceasefire in the four-year war.

"We heard from our interlocutors that they are quite optimistic that we can achieve a ceasefire this year," their statement said.

However, despite these diplomatic hopes, European lawmakers stressed that continued military support for Kiev remains essential.

For many Eastern European countries, Russia's latest attack has reinforced a sense of urgency to preserve transatlantic unity, as NATO leaders prepare to convene amid mounting questions about the alliance's long-term strategy toward Moscow.