Zelensky: Ukraine need long-range weapons to protect its cities and troops
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that his country needs long-range weapons to protect its cities and forces on the front lines from bombs and drones launched by Russia, after the Ukraine was attacked by drones and missiles overnight.
Ukraine’s military said earlier in the day that Russia launched the fifth drone attack on Kiev in two weeks, adding that Ukrainian air defense systems destroyed all air weapons before they reached the capital.
Ukraine said that air defense systems had destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles launched by Russia overnight. The weapons targeted ten areas in Ukraine, he said.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kiev’s military administration, wrote on Telegram that authorities hadn’t received reports of any injuries or major damage so far.
“These systematic drone attacks prove once again that the invaders are constantly waiting for an opportunity to bomb Kiev,” Popko said, “They are testing new methods and looking for new ways to approach the capital, trying to expose our air defense positions”.
Zelensky wrote via Telegram, “Last night alone, the Russian military launched nearly 40 witness drones on Ukraine. Most importantly, our defenses shot down most of them”
He added that it was necessary to destroy Russian bombers inside their air bases in Russia to protect Ukraine from such raids.
Zelensky added, “To have sufficient long-range capabilities is a just response to Russian terrorism… Whoever supports us in this supports the fight against terrorism”.
Zelensky renewed his call on Western allies on Friday in London to allow long-range weapons strikes on Russia, saying Britain should try to persuade its partners to remove restrictions on the use of those weapons.
There are differences in the approach taken by NATO countries on how Ukraine use the weapons they give them.
Some countries have explicitly stated that Kiev can use the weapons to strike targets inside Russia, but the United States has chosen to allow its weapons to be used only directly on the border to strike Russian targets supporting military operations in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s weather said Russia fired three Iskander ballistic missiles, without announcing what had happened.
The military administration of the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine on the border with Russia said via Telegram that a Russia missile damaged vital infrastructure facility in the Shostekinski district of the region.
