Deaths in Russian strikes on Ukraine and Kiev demands Patriot missiles and hints at using a guided bomb on Kharkiv
Russian bombing on several Ukrainian regions, including Kharkiv, killed at least four people and injured 28 others on Wednesday, prompting Kiev to demand to obtain more Patriot air defense systems from its Western allies.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his Western allies again to accelerate the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to his country, in addition to Patriot systems.
“Strengthening Ukraine’s air defense and accelerating the delivery of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine are vital tasks,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
He added, “There is no logical justification to explain why Patriot missiles, of which there are many around the world, don’t cover the skies of Kharkiv and other cities and towns attacked by Russian terrorists”.
In Kharkiv, which had a population of about one and a half million people before the war, Russian strikes on civilian sites led to the death of at least one person and the injury of 19 others, including four children, according to local authorities.
The region’s governor, Oleg Sinegubov, explained, “Today the enemy struck Kharkiv with a heavy-caliber guided missile for the first time”.
Kharkiv is located on Russia’s northern border and is regularly exposed to fire from Russian forces.
In the village of Burova, a 12-year-old boy was killed in a Russian strike on Wednesday evening, according to what the local prosecutor’s office reported, but it wasn’t immediately clear what type of weapon was used to direct this strike.
Sinegubov said earlier that four people were injured in night strikes and a drone attack on the area.
Two other people were killed on Wednesday in Russian strikes on other Ukrainian regions.
Ukraine is asking its Western allies to deliver additional aid more quickly, but in Brussels as in Washington, political divisions have hampered the delivery of weapons and aid to Kiev in recent months.
For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed on Wednesday that a strong anti-aircraft defense would contribute to saving thousands of lives, reducing damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure and helping soldiers on the front.
Kuliba called on countries that possess Patriot missile systems to send them to Ukraine, which delivered the first battery of this type in April 2023.
He stressed that Russia had recently intensified its air attacks, launching, according to him, 190 missiles and dropping 700 guided bombs in the period from March 18 to 24.
Kuliba stressed that “the current Russian attacks are characterized by the extensive use of ballistic missiles that can reach their target very quickly, leaving little time for civilians to take cover”.
In the same context, local officials said that Russia may have used a new type of guided bomb in air strikes on the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.
Kharkiv Police Chief Volodymyr Tymoshko said Moscow may have used a new type of guided bomb, which he described as the UMBMPD-30.
“It’s something between a guided aerial missile that they (the Russians) used recently and a missile; It’s a flying bomb, so to speak,” Tymoshko said at the site of the strike.
The regional governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegubov, also indicated that Moscow may have used a new type of bomb, saying, “It seems that the Russians decided to test their modified bombs on residents of homes”.
