Powerful Explosions Rock Khmelnytskyi
As explosions rattle a military facility in the Ukrainian city, President Zelenskyy highlights EU membership as a key security issue and sets an ambitious goal of concluding negotiations by 2027.
As explosions rattle a military facility in the Ukrainian city, President Zelenskyy highlights EU membership as a key security issue and sets an ambitious goal of concluding negotiations by 2027.
For nearly an hour on Monday, August 4, 2026, powerful explosions rocked the Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi. According to reports from the Telegram channel RVvoenkor, secondary detonations continued after an initial massive strike on a military facility. Repeated blasts shook houses and shattered windows, with columns of smoke visible from neighboring settlements.
On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined three priorities for further cooperation between Kyiv and the European Union on the social media platform X. As reported by Ukrainska Pravda, he discussed these with Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Vsevolod Chentsov, and Deputy Heads of the Presidential Office Serhii Kyslytsia and Ihor Zhovkva.
Zelenskyy listed progress toward full EU membership as the first and most important priority, emphasizing that it is not only a political or economic issue but also a security one. "Ukraine's accession to the European Union will eliminate the geopolitical uncertainty that Russia has exploited for decades to sow destabilization both in Ukraine and within the EU," Zelenskyy wrote. He added that the Union will gain the necessary security capacities through Ukraine's strength, thereby reinforcing the European component of the Euro-Atlantic community.
The Ukrainian president expressed hope that the remaining four negotiation clusters will be opened, stressing that the Ukrainian side has done everything to secure a positive decision. Deputy Prime Minister Chentsov earlier assessed that he expects them to open in the autumn, and considers concluding negotiations with the EU by the end of 2027 to be an ambitious but realistic goal.
As the second priority, Zelenskyy highlighted leveraging all opportunities for Ukraine's sectoral integration into the EU. "Ukraine must be seen by all Europeans as an integral part of normal European processes, and this must drive our political progress and the decisions of leaders and countries," he said. The third priority concerns ensuring the necessary support for Ukraine ahead of the upcoming winter.
