Ukraine receives new air defense systems from its Western allies to counter Russian strikes

Ukraine announced on Monday it had received more air defense systems from its Western allies, as officials in Kyiv asked Ukrainians to rationalize electricity use after Russian forces targeted energy facilities for weeks.

The new weapons come in light of questions about US support for Ukraine on the eve of the midterm elections, which will be held on Tuesday and determine who will dominate the US Congress.

Republicans, who analysts expect to achieve a majority in the House and possibly the Senate, have expressed concern about the level of spending allocated to Ukraine, but President Joe Biden’s administration has pledged to continue providing unwavering support for Kiev, whatever the outcome of the election.

After a series of Russian strikes deprived hundreds of thousands of people of electricity, the authorities in the Kyiv region indicated that the state of the energy supply remains uneasy.

The regional military administration called on residents to use electricity in moderation, while the operating company announced emergency outages.

On October 31, Russian missile strikes and marches targeted Ukrainian facilities, depriving nearly 80% of the city’s population of water and cutting off electricity to 350,000 homes, before repairing some damage.

To counter these blows, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western countries to create a shield capable of protecting critical infrastructure targeted by Moscow.

On Monday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in a tweet, “NASAMS and ASPEED air defense systems have arrived in Ukraine!

These weapons will greatly enhance the capabilities of the Ukrainian army and make our airspace safer”.

“We’ll continue to fight the enemies who attack us… Thank you to our partners: Norway, Spain and the United States”.

Germany sent the first German “Iris-T” air defense system to Kyiv, and Paris also provided short-range surface-to-air missiles “Crotel”, and the United Kingdom announced sending “Amram” missiles.

The Westerners hope to provide Ukraine with an emergency air defense system using equipment, some very modern, some older, to protect key strategic Ukrainian targets from Russian bombing.

Russia has destroyed about 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since early October, using notably Iranian-made suicide marches, according to Ukrainian authorities.

To help the war effort, the Ukrainian government announced on Monday that it will seize several companies of “strategic importance”, including “Ukrnafta” for the production of fuels and the “Motor Sich” company for the manufacture of aircraft.

Prime Minister Denis Schmihal emphasized that these companies manufacture “essential products for the needs of the defense and armed forces, as well as for the energy sector”.

He stressed the need for “these companies to work around the clock, seven days a week, to meet the needs of the state’s defense”.

The Russian occupation authorities in Kherson, in southern Ukraine, threatened the stability of water and electricity supplies, in the wake of two bombing operations, about which Moscow and Kiev exchanged accusations.

The strikes damaged the Russian-occupied Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, the main water source for Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

The authorities told the Russian TASS news agency on Monday that specialists… have partially restarted vital supplies to every small neighborhood of the city.

In anticipation of an upcoming battle, Moscow organized population evacuations, and Ukraine denounced what it saw as a repatriation policy.

Meanwhile, North Korea rejected the US accusation of supplying Russia with artillery shells for use in the war in Ukraine, describing it as baseless, according to the official North Korean News Agency.

“We make it clear once again that we have never had any ‘weapons dealings’ with Russia and that we have no intention of doing so in the future,” KCNA reported, citing a statement by the deputy director of foreign military affairs at the North’s Ministry of National Defense.

And while the past four weeks have seen intense Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities, Monday morning was relatively calm, with foggy skies in Kyiv not conducive to air strikes.

The Ukrainian military said that the Russian forces fired 4 missiles and launched 24 air strikes in the past 24 hours in the country.

The Russian army again accused the Ukrainian forces of firing “seven heavy-caliber missiles” at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe and occupied by Moscow since March, without causing an increase in the level of radiation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday that Moscow was open to the possibility of negotiations with Kyiv, and again condemned Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal to talk.