Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday repeated his call for his Western allies to quickly equip Kiev with more air defense systems after Russian attacks left at least seven dead, according to Kiev.
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Attacks on the Black Sea port city of Odessa on Friday night left five people dead, including a small child, and a nine-story building destroyed, according to regional authorities.
The attack also injured eight people, including a child, according to a new report from Ukrainian rescue workers.
Images posted on social media showed that several floors of a building had completely collapsed.
At the same time, bombings killed a 76-year-old man in the Kharkiv region near the Russian border and another person in the southern Kherson region, according to regional authorities.
“Russia continues to attack civilians,” President Zelensky complained on social media.
“We must strengthen Ukraine’s air shield to better protect our people from Russian terrorism. “More anti-aircraft systems and more missiles for anti-aircraft systems to save lives,” he demanded.
After more than two years of war, the Ukrainian leader is daily calling on his Western allies for faster military aid, particularly demanding ammunition, more air defense systems and fighter jets.
However, American aid is still blocked in Congress due to opposition between Republicans and Democrats, and the Europeans, whose production capacity is limited, have been slow to deliver the shells promised in recent months.
Victory over Russia “depends on you,” Volodymyr Zelensky warned his Western allies a few days ago.
AFP
Against this backdrop of intense pressure, Germany promised an investigation on Saturday after an alleged exchange between several German officers about arms shipments to Ukraine was broadcast in Russia, “a very serious matter,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
A member of the ruling coalition was quick to estimate that by broadcasting its footage, Moscow was trying to “intimidate” Berlin into continuing to refuse to supply long-range Taurus missiles to Kiev.
According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Roustem Oumerov, half of the Western weapons promised to Kiev are being delivered late.
This problem is adding to the fatigue of front-line soldiers who have endured two years of grueling war facing a larger Russian army.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday it had intercepted 14 of the 17 Shahed explosive drones launched by Russia.
Kiev forces, for their part, apparently carried out their own drone strike on the night of Friday and Saturday, damaging a residential building in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, about 1,000 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
The Russian National Guard said that “the crash of a drone” was the “probable” cause of the incident, which led to the evacuation of “around a hundred people.”
The city authorities had previously assured that there were no victims.
Videos posted on Russian social media show a drone falling from the sky into the building, causing an explosion.
According to Ukrainian media, Russian air defenses shot down a drone that was targeting an oil depot less than a kilometer away.
In recent months, the Ukrainian army has attacked several Russian oil depots with explosive drones, depriving Moscow's armed forces of significant resources.
The Russian Investigative Committee, in turn, said in a press release that one of its teams working in the Bryansk border region was attacked by Ukrainian drones, resulting in an injury.
On the front line, Russian forces have gained ground in recent days, capturing several small villages in Donbass (east) and forcing Ukrainians to reorganize their defense lines in the region.
“The situation at the front remains difficult but under control,” Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Saturday after visiting troops deployed at the front.
AFP