European leaders join Zelenskyy in Kyiv for Ukraine’s Independence Day as Russian invasion pushes on

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European leaders joined President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday for official celebrations marking Ukraine’s Independence Day as Russia pushes on with its 4-year-old invasion of the country.

One of President Vladimir Putin’s key goals in starting a war with Russia’s neighbor in February 2022 was to place Kyiv in Moscow’s orbit. Ukrainians voted overwhelmingly for independence in 1991.

With no significant changes on the front line for months and no apparent progress after more than a year of U.S.-led peace efforts , the warring countries are locked in a spiral of escalating aerial attacks that are killing civilians and smashing infrastructure.

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, on his first overseas trip since taking office last month, on Monday joined almost a dozen other European leaders, as well as other dignitaries including European Council President Antonio Costa, in Kyiv.

“For Ukraine, independence is not an abstract idea. We defended it against all odds,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media. “In times like these, nations learn how important it is to have allies by your side.”

Burnham was to co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing group of countries helping Ukraine resist Russia's onslaught, with the leaders of France and Germany expected to join online.

The visiting leaders took to Kyiv pledges of further military and financial support. Burnham is expected to announce that the U.K. Government has agreed to allow defense company MBDA to release classified information relating to British components used in the SCALP long-range missile, according to his office. That would pave the way for France and Ukraine to advance plans for local production of the weapon in Ukraine.

SCALP is the French version of the UK’s Storm Shadow missile, with both systems incorporating shared French and British technology.

Ukraine has leaned heavily on NATO countries for help fighting Russia’s bigger army, although relations with the United States have been cooler under President Donald Trump .

Russia, meanwhile, is getting help from North Korea and China .

Both Russia and Ukraine are trying through long-range strikes to inflict economic pain, disrupt military supplies and erode public morale.

Ukraine's long-range drones have repeatedly hit facilities in Russia's vital oil industry, causing fuel shortages , and have also engaged in a campaign against Russia's largest online retailer Wildberries .

Three teenagers were killed and six children were wounded in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, Russia’s children’s rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova said Monday, as Ukraine attacked several warehouses of Ozon for the third straight day, according to officials and the company.

Ozon is one of Russia’s major e-commerce retailers. The company said a large fire raged at an Ozon logistics facility in the suburbs of Krasnodar following the overnight attack.

A drone also hit the grounds of an Ozon logistics center in the southern Russian region of Adygeya, regional governor Murat Kumpilov said, though the company said its Adygeya warehouse wasn’t damaged.

In all, four Ozon premises appeared to have been targeted.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted and destroyed 351 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions, as well as occupied Crimea and the waters of the Azov and the Black Seas.

The ministry also said that its forces overnight continued to strike Ukrainian ports and vessels delivering cargo for the armed forces.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine