Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues his tour of Ukraine. The day after his visit to the front at Bakhmout and then to Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the partially Russian-occupied Kherson region. In particular, he traveled to Posad-Pokrovské, a place that was badly damaged and was in the hands of the Russian army until its withdrawal in autumn 2022. As part of this stay, which focused on rebuilding the region, he also visited a power plant damaged during the wave of Russian strikes over the winter.
Kiev wants more and more rockets and planes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, returning from the Kherson region where he was traveling, thanked the Europeans gathered in Brussels for their military assistance. However, he warned that delays in the delivery of long-range missiles and fighter jets could risk prolonging the war. “We cannot delay handing over weapons to our soldiers that can protect Ukrainians from terror. First, these are long-range weapons,” he said, according to a video broadcast on his Telegram account. “We need more modern aircraft” than the MiGs that have already been sent to Kiev. The Ukrainian leader also called for the adoption of new sanctions against Russia, progress on his country’s EU accession and progress on his peace plan.
Slovakia and Finland surrender Kiev in arms. The first four Slovak MiG-29 fighters have been delivered to Ukraine, Slovak Defense Ministry spokeswoman Martina Kakascikova said. The other nine promised devices will be delivered “in the coming weeks,” she added in a press release. Separately, Helsinki announced the delivery of three Leopard 2 anti-mine vehicles to Ukraine, in addition to the three previously delivered. Equipped with machine guns instead of the usual cannons, the tanks are designed to neutralize mines and other explosive devices.