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00:00 We have got an unannounced visit by Blinken. Do we know anything about
00:04 the agenda? We have been talking about the aid he is likely to announce.
00:09 What will Blinken be getting up to today? He will be meeting with the
00:15 Ukrainian leadership and apparently members of civil society. For the
00:18 first time he will be staying the night. This is a two-day visit. I am
00:22 not sure anybody as high-ranking as Antony Blinken among Ukraine's
00:27 leaders has yet made a two-day visit to the Ukrainian capital since the
00:32 full-scale Russian invasion began. Clearly that is intended to be a sign
00:37 of confidence in the security situation here in Kiev. It is certainly
00:42 happening at a time when not only in the West in the United States there
00:46 are signs of a certain reduction in the level of public support for
00:51 continuing to provide financial and military assistance to Ukraine, it is
00:55 happening at a time when some people in Ukraine are seeking to blame the
00:59 United States and other Western allies of Ukraine for not providing enough
01:03 weaponry quickly enough to make success of the counteroffensive which
01:07 is still grinding on in the South, perhaps showing some signs of picking
01:11 up momentum in recent days, but certainly a disappointment to most
01:15 people in Ukraine in terms of what people were hoping for back in late
01:18 May, early June when the Ukrainian army began trying to take back that
01:23 territory in the South of the country. Let's talk about the timing,
01:31 which may be coincidental. Overnight Russia fired cruise missiles at
01:35 Kiev. That is the first aerial attack since August 30. Antony Blinken
01:41 then arriving on the back of that attack, again another targeting of
01:47 the Ukrainian capital. I'm sure the Russians knew that Antony Blinken
01:53 was on his way. It was reported in Ukrainian media yesterday afternoon
01:57 that this visit would be happening even though it wasn't officially
02:01 confirmed by the US or Ukrainian government. The Ukrainian Air Force
02:05 says it shot down all of the cruise missiles that were ultimately aimed
02:09 at Kiev. For the first time, I think, they manoeuvred really a lot during
02:13 the night. Apparently trying to pull the wool over the eyes of observers
02:19 and perhaps the air defence systems by looking as though they were headed
02:23 in a different direction. There were reports that they were targeting the
02:27 south-western region of Khmelnytskyi, for example, before turning around
02:31 and heading to the Ukrainian capital. That meant that the air alert was on
02:34 for quite a long time during the night. I myself heard the explosions of
02:39 the air defences working some distance from where I am, close to the city
02:43 centre of Kiev, but certainly they were audible. Apparently 100% success
02:48 rate for the air defences of Kiev, which is often the case. Unfortunately
02:52 in the south-west of the country, the district of Izmail, this very important
02:57 port on the Danube River, right by the border with Romania, there were drone
03:02 attacks and one employee of an agricultural enterprise is reported to
03:06 have been killed. Just now, late morning today here in Ukraine, there are
03:11 reports of another attack on the city of Zaporizhia, a rocket attack, this
03:15 time with two people reported wounded there. That is Zaporizhia in the
03:19 south-east of Ukraine, quite close to the front lines. Keeping us up to date
03:23 from the Ukrainian capital. Thank you.
03:25 Thank you.