US Defense Chief Visits Kyiv for Talks 10/21 06:00

   U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit 
Monday, hours after a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian capital and as 
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushes Western partners to keep providing 
military support for the war.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv on 
an unannounced visit Monday, hours after a Russian drone attack on the 
Ukrainian capital and as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushes Western 
partners to keep providing military support for the war.

   Austin said on the X platform that his fourth visit shows "that the United 
States, alongside the international community, continues to stand by Ukraine."

   Ukraine is having difficulty holding back a ferocious Russian campaign along 
the eastern front that is gradually compelling Kyiv's forces to give up a 
series of towns, villages and hamlets.

   Zelenskyy is urging Western allies to support his so-called 'victory plan' 
to end the almost three-year war, which is Europe's biggest conflict since 
World War II and has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including 
many civilians.

   His strategy includes a formal invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and 
permission to use Western long-range missiles to strike military targets in 
Russia -- steps that Kyiv's allies have previously balked at supporting.

   The Western response has been lukewarm, and Austin was expected to discuss 
the plan with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv.

   Zelenskyy said in a Sunday evening video address that his plan had won the 
backing of France, Lithuania, Nordic countries and "many other allies" in the 
European Union which he didn't name.

   The key country, however, is the United States, which is Ukraine's biggest 
military supplier.

   Zelenskyy said he had received "very positive signals from the United 
States," but he stopped short of saying he had secured Washington's endorsement 
for the plan.

   Analysts say the U.S. is unlikely to make a decision before the presidential 
election in two weeks' time.

   The latest Russian strikes on Ukraine, targeting Kyiv, Odesa and 
Zaporizhzhia, rammed home the urgency for Kyiv officials of clinching 
guarantees of more support. Large amounts of ammunition are needed for the kind 
of attritional warfare the warring sides are engaged in.

   A Russian missile attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia injured seven 
people in the city center and caused huge damage to civilian infrastructure, 
including a kindergarten and more than 30 residential buildings, regional Gov. 
Ivan Fedorov said.

   Machine gun fire and the noise of drones' engines was also heard in Kyiv's 
center throughout the night. Authorities reported minor damages to civilian 
infrastructure caused by falling drone debris in the three districts of the 
city.

   Russia fired three missiles and more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight 
from Sunday to Monday, Ukraine's air force said.