“A Ukraine needs 25 Patriot air defense systems that can protect our cities from enemy attacks”, said Illia Yevlash, quoted by the Ukrinform agency, in a ‘briefing’ with the press, highlighting the need for other resources, such as portable systems that can be used by mobile military groups.
According to the spokesman, last night Russian forces used “almost every type of missile available”, including the powerful Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, as well as ‘drones’ (unmanned aerial devices), which are often fired to “distract” anti-aircraft defenses, before resorting to more powerful weapons.
“Unfortunately, we are not yet able to fully repel these enemy attacks, because for this we need systems that have already proven their effectiveness many times and we have already used them”, said Illia Yevlash, insisting on the Patriot systems: “We need them today to fight against these combined attacks.”
The Air Force spokesman said that it is necessary to develop the entire high-level air defense system, which includes short, medium and long-range equipment with the support of fighters.
Since last March, Russia has carried out an aggressive bombing campaign against the Ukrainian energy system, seriously affecting the country’s electrical generation capacity, while at the same time it has mainly targeted cities and towns in the northeast, including Kharkiv, the second largest Ukrainian city.
In its multiple attacks, Russia took another step this morning in its goal of collapsing Ukraine’s electrical system by destroying key energy infrastructure in the until recently impregnable Kyiv region.
According to the company responsible for infrastructure, Centrenergo, confirmed, the Russian missiles “completely” destroyed the electricity generation capacity of the Trypillia thermal power plant, about 45 kilometers south of the Ukrainian capital.
This Centrenergo infrastructure – which lost all of its production capacity with the recent destruction of another of its thermal power plants in the northeast region of Kharkiv – was the main supplier of electricity in the central regions of Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy.
Last night, none of the six Kinzhal missiles launched by Russia were shot down by Ukraine’s defenses, according to the Kyiv Air Force’s daily report, which also reports the use of 20 Kh-101 and Kh-555 cruise missiles, 12 anti-aircraft missiles S-300, four Kh-59 guided missiles and 40 Iranian Shahed ‘kamikaze drones’.
Of the total of 42 missiles, Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept 18, as well as 39 of the 40 ‘drones’ launched by Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again asked allies to urgently send additional air defense systems to protect the country’s critical infrastructure, while ground forces continue to face a lack of ammunition to contain Russian attacks on eastern Ukraine.
On Wednesday, European Union High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke about Brussels’ efforts to send Patriot missiles to Kyiv to reinforce its air defense systems due to the lack of American assistance.
In an interview published today by the Washington Post newspaper, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy stated that Kyiv had identified more than 100 Patriot air defense systems available in the possession of allies, asking for the transfer of at least seven, a number well below what was pointed out today by the Air Force spokesman.
“I feel like hitting the wall. I just don’t understand why that isn’t happening,” he declared.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24, 2022, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945).
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2538942/forca-aerea-de-kyiv-pede-25-sistemas-patriot-para-travar-bombardeamentos
