EU ambassador tells Guardian about delegation's work in Kyiv as Russian attacks intensify
EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová has described how the EU Delegation's staff are working amid intensified Russian attacks on Kyiv.
Source: Mathernová in an interview with the Guardian, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Mathernová said the delegation is currently reinforcing its exterior walls with sandbags and has placed beanbags in the corridors for staff to use during air raids. There are also folding beds and extra showers.
Quote: "I think they are warning shots. They [the Russians] are more and more brazen and callous… The level of attacks are much higher than last year, and the power cuts earlier. We've had no water in our building. The soft underbelly of a modern city is its sewage system."
Details: Mathernová also said that she sleeps on a mattress in the bathroom of her hotel room during Russian strikes.
She added that Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin's strategic goal is to destroy the EU, and that she believes the recent threats against embassies in Kyiv are intended to push some diplomats from the Global South to leave Ukraine.
Background:
- Most ambassadors say their continued presence in Kyiv is a powerful signal of solidarity with Ukraine's embattled leadership. All the EU embassies have announced that they will stay in Kyiv.
- Earlier, Mathernová recounted that many of her Ukrainian and international friends and colleagues from the EU delegation live in cold apartments, and some spend the night in unheated shelters.
- German Ambassador to Ukraine Boris Ruge recently spoke about how Russia issued threats ahead of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to Kyiv in October.
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