Blinkin's visit confirmed that U.S. support will continue, and Ukraine will continue its efforts to de-occupy the regions – Maria Zolkina

Anthony Blinken visited Kyiv as a Russian airstrike killed 17 Ukrainian civilians at a market in Konstantinovka, Donetsk region. Maria Zolkina,  Head of Regional Security and Conflictology Programmes at the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Research Fellow at London School of Economics and Political Science, commented on these events on Monocle Radio. She also spoke about the progress of the de-occupation of the territories in southern Ukraine, the successful operation of Ukrainian intelligence to encourage defectors from Russia, namely the defection of a Russian pilot to the side of Ukraine, and the illegality of the elections that Russia is going to hold in the occupied territory.