The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia travelled by train on Tuesday to Kyiv to meet with Ukraine's top leadership as Russia's offensive moved closer to the centre of the capital.
The visit by the leaders of three countries which belong to the EU but also NATO, comes as a series of strikes hit a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv.
They described their visit into the war zone as a mission by the European Union to support Ukraine, though EU officials characterised it as trip the central European leaders had undertaken independently despite the security risks.