Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Europe for urgent meetings on Ukraine with NATO and European Union officials following last week’s U.S. presidential election and the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January.

Russia struck Kyiv with a sophisticated missile and drone attack for the first time in 73 days on Wednesday morning and damage is still being assessed, a top official in the Ukrainian capital said. Air raid warnings blared for hours.

KYIV (Reuters) -Blasts rang out over Kyiv on Wednesday morning after officials said Russia launched its first missile attack on the Ukrainian capital since August and urged residents to take cover. The scale of the strike and extent of any damage were not immediately clear.

Gabbard was named Wednesday by President-elect Donald Trump as his pick for director of national intelligence.

Gabbard has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton once referred to her as a "Russian asset."

Tulsi Gabbard - a former Democratic congresswoman who joined the Republican Party to back Donald Trump - is the president-elect's pick for director of national intelligence. The wide-ranging role would mean she oversees US intelligence agencies like the CIA,