Kyiv has become a 'true frontline city', EU ambassador to Ukraine tells Euronews

I spoke also exclusively to the EU's ambassador to Kyiv, Kateryna Matanova, who has a very different view on that because she actually lives in Kyiv and lives through every single Russian attack in Ukraine's capital. What happened since the end of August of this year is that Kyiv became a true frontline city. And this is not only the nighttime attacks that we are almost used to, but the daytime attacks that started on the 27th of August are relentless and people can't really imagine when they're outside that when you have an alert kids have to stop studying, go to the shelter, doctors stop carrying out medical procedures, metro stops. With the intensified attacks by Russia since the end of August Moscow has been using more and more as well of jet-powered drones which are much harder to intercept and very often the targets have nothing to do with the military. I think this is quite a specialty of Russia, is the attacks on civilian targets. And let's remind ourselves that attacking civilian targets is a war crime. It goes against the laws of war. So apart from aggressing peaceful country in the first place, the war crimes are happening on a daily basis. There is also diplomatic escalation happening these days between the United States and Ukraine, which is one of the important topics regarding how much more Europe can step in to help. With your experience, first-hand experience of living through all of that in Kiev, what do you communicate with your colleagues, diplomats and the European leaders here in Brussels? Europe has been and is proving itself to be really the steadfast, the most reliable supporter of Ukraine, both on the financial side and the military side. President Kostya was very clear that we are certainly not going to release any sanctions on Russia until the war stops. and also you know right now the European Union is carrying about three quarters of the financial support for the for Ukraine and i think there is determination to continue but we also will be talking to our like-minded partners to step up their effort as well one of the aspects of Europe's bigger support and more of the European Union stepping in also comes to supporting Ukraine when it comes to Ukraine's right to strike Russia's oil facilities, refineries, to target Russia's money-making machine, the one that is financing the war. We have heard from Kaja Kallas, who told Euronews that Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries constitute legitimate self-defense. But this support of Europe can also put Europe and Brussels at odds and in trouble in its relations with the United States. Well, I would prefer not to comment on that. I look at it from the perspective of Kyiv and living there. And I certainly support the view that the High Representative expressed because it's the fossil fuel industry that is fueling the war on the Russia side.