The Ukrainian president calls for a donation to finance the purchase a fleet of navy drones

After an attack by Ukrainian navy drones against the Russian Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol in the Crimea, Ukraine wants to buy more weapons of this type.

“We’ll start another fundraising campaign next week, and we want to raise funds for a whole fleet of sea rallies,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his video address on Saturday evening.

According to Ukrainian accounts, three Russian warships were wounded in the attack on Sevastopol last weekend, including the new flagship, the Admiral Makarov.

The Russian military only acknowledged that some minor damage had occurred, without providing further details.

After the outbreak of the war, Ukraine created the Internet platform “United24”, through which about $220 million has already been donated for the purchase of weapons, according to Kiev.

After the Iranian leadership admitted supplying Russia with combat drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Tehran of lying.

The president said in his daily video message on Saturday: “Even with the confession, they lie”.

Zelensky justified his accusations that the number of Iranian combat drones downed by the Ukrainian Air Defense Force exceeds the number of drones mentioned by Iran.

“The more Tehran lies, the more the international community will review this terrorist cooperation between the regimes in Russia and Iran,” Zelensky added.

On Saturday, Iran admitted for the first time that it supplied Russia with drones.

The Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, said that his country provided Russia with a limited number of drones before the war in Ukraine.

But the top Iranian diplomat denied the delivery of more weapons after the start of the Russian war of aggression and the provision of missiles.

According to the Ukrainian military, hundreds of Iranian Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down.

11 Shahid drones were shot down yesterday alone,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian military command suspects that Russia has ordered 2,400 such drones.

Noting that the Kyiv military command has reviewed the current defense situation against Russian “missile and drone terrorism”, Zelensky said that while the number of missiles downed by Ukrainian air defenses is increasing, “there is still a lot to do”.

Pending larger numbers of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery, Ukraine is also facing several “crucial weeks,” according to Zelensky.

But Ukraine expects “good news” on this point in a few weeks, the Ukrainian president said, without giving further details.

The past hours didn’t make much change on the fronts that are witnessing fierce fighting.

Zelensky said he analyzed the situation on the war and energy fronts with the Armed Forces Command Staff.

He added, “We know what the enemy is planning, we will respond to it and we will continue to liberate our country”.