Preparation for a massive Russian attack.. The European Union renews its support for Kyiv and Lavrov: Washington's conviction of its absolute rightness is the reason for the confrontation in Ukraine

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday reaffirmed the European Union's support for Ukraine upon her arrival in Kyiv with a team of European commissioners, on the eve of a EU-Ukraine summit in the Ukrainian capital.

This comes as the Ukrainian army announced that Russian forces are preparing to launch a massive attack on Ukraine from the Black Sea.

Von der Leyen wrote - in a tweet on Twitter - "It is good to be back in Kyiv for the fourth time since the start of the Russian invasion, and this time with my team of commissioners," adding, "We are here together to confirm that the European Union stands firmly with Ukraine."

The EU's foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, announced that the total European aid provided to Ukraine since the start of the war last February amounted to more than $50 billion.

strategic defeat

On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the more the West provides the Kyiv regime with long-range weapons, the greater the need to push Ukrainian forces away from Russian territory.

He pointed out that everyone wants to end the conflict, but no one wants to convince Kyiv of the diplomatic track.

"The West hopes for a strategic defeat for Russia so that it will not be able to recover for decades," Lavrov added, noting that what he described as "the conviction of the United States of its absolute superiority and correctness" are the reason for the current confrontation between Russia and the West in Ukraine.

Regarding the four Ukrainian provinces that Russia annexed last September, that is, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, Lavrov stressed that his country proceeds in this context "from the reality that has been constitutionally proven regarding the future of these regions."

bombing and raids

On the ground, the Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kramatorsk, north of Donetsk, quoted Ukrainian medical sources as saying that three civilians were killed and eight others were wounded in a Russian bombing that targeted a residential building in the city center last night.

The correspondent added that rescue operations and removal of rubble are still continuing in search of a number of missing persons.

The pro-Russian authorities in the province said that the Ukrainian forces bombed six residential neighborhoods in the city with about 100 shells of various calibers.

For its part, the Ukrainian General Staff said that a number of civilians were killed or wounded as a result of raids launched by Russian forces on several districts, especially in Zaporizhia and Kherson.

The authority confirmed that its forces continued their air raids and artillery strikes on the positions of the Russian forces on more than one front.

She added that the Russian forces continued to launch air strikes on the southern and eastern provinces of Ukraine, and carried out over the past hours more than 70 missile strikes on several provinces, especially in Kherson and Zabrozhia, which caused deaths and casualties among civilians.

It confirmed that more than 20 areas in Zaporizhia were subjected to intense Russian bombardment last night, in addition to the continuation of artillery shelling throughout the territory of Kherson.

It indicated that the threat of large-scale air strikes throughout the country still exists, and that the Russians are intensifying their active reconnaissance operations on more than one front, in an attempt to intensify their attacks.

Conflict in Bakhmut

Regarding the strategic town of Bakhmut in Donetsk, the pro-Russian authorities announced that the Russian forces had tightened the encirclement of the city.

Jan Gagin, an aide to the acting leader of Donetsk, a pro-Russian government, said Bakhmut was under a tight siege and battles were taking place for control of the highway southwest of the city.

But Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private military group Wagner, which is fighting alongside Russian forces, denied that Bakhmut had "operational" cordoned off.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian forces said that fierce fighting was taking place near Bakhmut, and that Russian forces bombed the area more than 150 times.

Earlier, Ukrainian military sources said that the battles are taking place in the east and north of the city, and confirmed that despite the difficult situation, it is "under control."