Today at 18:04
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited locations in Kyiv that were hit during a major Russian attack and met with Ukrainian emergency responders who took part in rescue operations.
Accompanied by State Emergency Service (SES) chief Andrii Danyk, Rutte toured sites in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district that were struck during Russia’s mass attack on May 24, which killed three people, UATV English reports.
Danyk briefed the NATO chief on the work carried out by rescuers during the attack, when Russian missiles and drones hit 32 locations across the Ukrainian capital.
Emergency crews searched for survivors under the rubble, extinguished fires and assisted civilians affected by the strikes.
The SES chief also described a Russian strike on the Kyiv regional emergency service headquarters, which housed the operational coordination center and critical communications infrastructure supporting Ukraine’s 101 emergency hotline and the national 112 system.
“At the moment of impact, emergency personnel were on duty inside the building, most of them women. Despite the destruction, dispatchers and communications specialists quickly moved to shelters and continued handling emergency calls,” Danyk said.
He also recalled a strike near Kyiv’s Lukianivska metro station, where Russian forces launched multiple missiles in rapid succession.
“The enemy fired around six missiles at the shopping center near Lukianivska. Fortunately, none of our rescuers were injured that day because they reacted quickly and moved to safe locations. However, during Russia’s June 2 attack on Dnipro, one of our colleagues was killed in a secondary strike,” Danyk noted.
According to the SES chief, ballistic missiles remain the greatest threat to civilians, while repeated strikes targeting first responders have become one of Russia’s tactics.
He stressed that Ukrainian emergency services continuously update safety procedures to adapt to evolving threats on the battlefield.
For his part, Rutte expressed admiration for the dedication and professionalism of Ukrainian rescuers working under constant danger.
The NATO Secretary General reaffirmed the Alliance’s continued support for Ukraine and emphasized that NATO would remain alongside the Ukrainian people in their struggle to protect lives and ensure security.
Russia’s large-scale attack on May 24 involved nearly 700 aerial weapons, including drones and missiles launched from air, sea and land platforms. Kyiv was the primary target of the strike.
The attack left nearly 100 people injured across Ukraine and claimed four lives.
