EU Summons Russian Envoy After Missile Strike on Kyiv Region Military Exhibition
EU to protest Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian and diplomatic sites, considering expanded sanctions against Russia’s military-industrial complex.
The European Union is set to summon Russia's permanent representative to the EU following a missile strike on a military exhibition site in the Kyiv region and an attack on Latvia’s honorary consulate in Sloviansk. The strikes, part of a series of Russian attacks on Ukraine, have drawn strong condemnation from EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
EU Response to Russian Strikes Targets Military and Diplomatic Sites
On July 24, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, announced the European External Action Service will formally protest to Russia over the latest indiscriminate attacks that caused civilian casualties and damaged diplomatic facilities. She described the missile strikes as deliberate acts of aggression, highlighting a targeted policy by Moscow.
"We will summon the Russian representative to the EU in response to today's attacks and propose expanding the sanctions list to include additional enterprises and entities of the Russian military-industrial complex," Kallas stated.
Among the reported strikes was a ballistic missile attack on a private military polygon in Bucha district, where a weapons exhibition focused on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was underway. Ukrainian monitoring groups reported the use of the Zircon hypersonic missile by Russian forces in the early hours of July 24.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko, confirmed that the strike on the polygon resulted in 10 deaths and approximately 100 injuries. An investigation is underway regarding the organization and conduct of the event held at the site.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the missile strike targeted leading UAV developers, Ukrainian special services personnel, and command representatives responsible for drone attacks on Russian territory.
Ukraine’s UAV Capabilities and Military Strategy
In an interview published on July 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed plans to significantly enhance Ukraine's drone capabilities by 2027, aiming for UAVs with ranges up to 10,000 kilometers. Currently, Ukraine operates drones capable of striking targets as far as 3,000 kilometers, similar to those possessed by Russia.
Zelensky also discussed ongoing negotiations with the United States to establish domestic UAV production facilities in Ukraine. "We want to create production lines, because drones can't just sit in warehouses. They are not artillery or missiles; drones are replaced every six months on the battlefield, sometimes every three months," he explained.
The Ukrainian leader had previously ordered the creation of a "long-range influence special command" within the armed forces, a unit tasked with organizing drone strikes deep inside Russian territory. Kyiv views these operations as highly effective in pressuring Moscow to reconsider continuing the conflict.
The NATO-aligned bloc’s diplomatic démarche and plans for tighter sanctions underscore the growing geopolitical tensions exacerbated by Russia’s continued military actions against Ukraine.
