German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock has called for more international support for Ukraine’s air defences.
This came as she arrived in Kyiv for an unannounced visit.
Expressing that Ukraine urgently needs more air defense to protect the country from Russian missiles and drone attacks, Baerbock stated that she launched a global initiative for more air defense together with German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius.
She disclosed that almost €1 billion ($1.1 billion) have been raised to provide additional support for Ukraine’s air defense, indicating they have “led the way” with an additional Patriot unit.
“We must now join forces so that Ukraine can survive, so that Ukrainians can continue to live self-determined lives in the future. And so that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s troops don’t soon find themselves at our own borders.”
Annalena Baerbock
Baerbock also accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of targeted terror against the infrastructure and civilian population in Ukraine.
“The fact that this terror against the infrastructure is continuing after this winter shows that the Russian president wants to destroy the country, wants to destroy people’s lives here,” she said during a visit to one of Ukraine’s largest power stations.
Baerbock appealed “to international partners worldwide that we need more air defence to protect not only large cities, but also the infrastructure.”
Zelenskyy Seeks Help Intercepting Russian Missiles
Earlier, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that he is pushing partners to get more directly involved in the war by helping to intercept Russian missiles and allowing his country to use Western weapons against military equipment amassing near the border.
“It’s a question of will, but everyone says a word that sounds the same in every language: everyone is scared of escalation,” he said.
“Everyone has gotten used to the fact that Ukrainians are dying – that’s not escalation for people,” he added.
In addition, Zelenskyy proposed that the armed forces of neighbouring NATO countries could intercept incoming Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory to help Ukraine protect itself.
“Russians are using 300 planes on the territory of Ukraine. We need at least 120-130 planes to resist in the sky,” Zelenskyy said, while calling on Western allies to supply with additional air defence systems.
Ukraine is waiting for the delivery of US-designed F-16 fighter jets.
He suggested that if countries could not supply the planes straight away, they could still fly them from neighbouring NATO states and shoot down Russian missiles.
He also revealed that Ukraine was negotiating with international partners to use their weapons to strike Russian military hardware at the border and further inside Russian territory.
“So far, there is nothing positive,” he said.
Moreover, Zelenskyy admitted that the situation on the battlefield was “one of the most difficult” he had known since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“A very powerful wave [of fighting] is going on in Donbas …No one even notices that there are actually more battles in the east of the country, specifically in the Donbas direction: Kurakhove, Pokrovsk, Chasiv Yar,” Zelenskyy said.
He added, however, that the situation north of Kharkiv was now “under control.”
In recent weeks, Moscow’s troops have made incursions into northeastern Ukraine, further testing Ukraine’s already stretched defences. At the same time, Russia has taken territory in the eastern Donbas region in sometimes fierce battles.
On Tuesday, May 21, 2024, Ukraine’s air force said that it shot down 28 out of 29 drones used by Russian forces in an overnight attack on seven regions, including Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson.
According to the region’s Governor, Oleh Syniehubov and the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ statements on the Telegram messaging app, the drone attack damaged four private residences, 25 trucks and buses in Kharkiv, injuring five people.
