President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday stated that his country Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defences to protect people after its forces shot down 50 of the 73 drones launched by Russia over many regions.
“An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week,” Zelenskyy stated.
Over the past week Russia used more than 800 guided aerial bombs, about 460 attack drones, and more than 20 missiles of various types, Zelenskyy said.
“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state. But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us,” he said.
The Ukrainian military said earlier on Sunday that air defence units had destroyed more than 10 Russian drones that were targeting Kyiv in an overnight attack.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attack, Kyiv’s military administration posted on social media.
“The UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were flying in different directions towards Kyiv,” said Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration. “The air raid alert in the city lasted for more than three hours.”
There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attack.
Last week, Zelenskyy said that his country was attempting to develop new types of air defence systems to counter “new risks” following Russia’s deployment of the new medium-range Oreshnik missile in the conflict nearing the three-year mark.
The Kremlin said the firing of the Oreshnik was a warning to the West against taking further “reckless” actions and decisions in support of Ukraine.
The Oreshnik missile was fired with conventional, not nuclear warheads. Putin said it was not a strategic nuclear weapon but its striking power and accuracy meant that its impact would be comparable, “especially when used in a massive group and in combination with other high-precision long-range systems”.
The Oreshnik missile was said to have been fired in response to Ukraine firing U.S.-made ATACMS deep inside Russian territory by Ukraine.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
