Kharkiv Hit, Frontline Shifts, EU Opens Door to Kyiv

Russian forces struck Kharkiv on Monday evening, collapsing an apartment block's entrance and trapping residents; two women suffered acute stress reactions. It was one of several strikes on Ukrainian cities after dark: explosions hit Kyiv with no prior air-raid warning, a red alert declared only once the blasts had landed, while Zaporizhzhia region also took hits that damaged civilian infrastructure and caused casualties. On the ground the picture was mixed. Ukrainian forces counterattacked near Pokrovsk in Donetsk, slowing the Russian advance, while cross-border fire continued around Sumy. Overnight, Ukraine's air defenses intercepted a large share of the drones launched against it. Against that backdrop, Kyiv's Western backing firmed up. NATO chief Mark Rutte urged allies to raise support as strikes on civilians intensify, and all 27 EU states agreed to open accession clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine, called a "Super Tuesday" for Kyiv's EU path. Elsewhere, Vienna prosecutors cited eyewitness testimony to justify arresting two Ukrainska Pravda journalists on espionage suspicion, but would not say how it was verified. Poland arrested two Turkish nationals suspected of torching a Starlink station. In Berlin, Labour Minister Barbel Bas resigned, yet the coalition held, even as a Bundestag hearing raised doubts over a planned intelligence reform's constitutionality.