The deadliest attack in months, with nearly three dozen more civilians — including a child — reported wounded, provided a grim backdrop for Mr. Blinken’s trip, a sign of support for the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the wake of a top-level personnel shakeup.
“A regular market. Shops. A pharmacy. People who did nothing wrong,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a social media post Wednesday, adding later that it was a “deliberate” strike against innocent civilians.Such attacks on seemingly non-military targets have grown more common in recent weeks. On Sunday, for example, Russia launched the latest in a string of attacks against port facilities in Ukraine’s Odesa region, a central hub for grain and other vital food exports.
“I’m here in large part at the behest of President Biden to reaffirm our commitment to stand with you, to stand with you to help ensure that you succeed militarily in dealing with the aggression, but also to stand with you to make sure that your efforts to build a strong economy and a strong democracy succeed,” he said, “Because all of those things — a military that’s capable of deterring and defending against further aggression, but also a strong democracy and a strong economy — are the...
The Kremlin cast Mr. Blinken’s visit as the latest sign that Washington is only fueling the conflict that is now in its 18th month.