July and August were the deadliest months for Ukrainians – EU foreign policy chief
Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has said that Russia has intensified its aggression against Ukrainians, with July and August becoming the deadliest months for Ukrainian civilians since the start of the full-scale war.
Source: a video posted on the Telegram channel of Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) showing Kallas speaking to journalists
Quote from Kallas: "July and August have been the deadliest months for the civilians in Ukraine. So Russia is really escalating to hurt the people of Ukraine as much as possible and to break them. The Ukrainians, of course, are standing strong, and we have to support them."
Details: Kallas added that air defence remains the biggest challenge, as Ukraine lacks interceptor missiles.
To help protect Ukrainian civilians, the EU foreign policy chief urged other countries to provide Ukraine with interceptors that are nearing the end of their service life.
"We are also doing the outreach for countries outside the EU to get the interceptors to protect the civilians… At the same time, of course, there is also work going on to put together the European interceptors together with Ukraine," Kallas said.
Background:
- On 1 September, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said EU member states should provide Ukraine with the interceptor missiles it needs, including those whose shelf life is about to expire.
- Bloomberg reported that NATO and the European Union are pressuring Spain and Greece, which hold some of the largest stocks of missiles for Patriot air defence systems, to sell interceptors to Norway so that Norway can transfer them to Ukraine.
- The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has reported that at least 437 civilians were killed and another 2,610 injured in Russian attacks in July 2026. This is the highest monthly civilian death toll since May 2022.
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