Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has bemoaned his country’s insufficient air defence equipment.
This came as a strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv killed 14 people and injured 61 people on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.
Ukraine has been struggling to persuade Western allies to provide additional air defence systems, something it urgently needs after Russia intensified its attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, targeting the country’s power sector and other critical infrastructure.
Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the attack on Chernihiv but also said that the west should do more to help defend Ukraine’s skies.
“This would not have happened if Ukraine had received sufficient air defence equipment and if the world’s determination to resist Russian terror had been sufficient,” he said in a social media post on X.
“Terrorists can only destroy lives if they first intimidate those who can stop terror and save lives. Determination matters. Support matters. The Ukrainian determination is sufficient. There must be equally sufficient determination from our partners and, as a result, sufficient support.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
According to Regional Governor, Vyacheslav Chaus, “The enemy launched three missile strikes almost in the centre of the city.”
First responders searched for survivors in the rubble, carrying away the wounded on stretchers as pools of blood formed on the ground near the scene of the attack.
Two children were among the 61 people injured, the emergency services said in its latest toll of casualties.
“Three people were rescued from the rubble. People are likely still trapped under the rubble of the partially destroyed building,” the Governor said.
“Many multi storey buildings were damaged,” Chaus said on state run television, adding, “Civilian infrastructure is damaged. Dozens of vehicles have been destroyed.”
“A 25-year-old policewoman on sick leave was among those killed after suffering a severe shrapnel injury,” the Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko announced separately.
The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba echoed Zelenskyy’s comments in a separate post on social media and suggested that Ukraine should enjoy the same cover from aerial attacks as Israel.
“In the Middle East, we saw what reliable protection of human lives from missiles looks like,” he added, referring to Iran’s drone and missile barrage on Israel that was intercepted by western and Israeli forces.
Kuleba thanked Germany for agreeing to supply Ukraine with another Patriot air defence system and said that he would appeal to other countries at a G7 meeting this week for more weapons.
Zelenskyy also thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, saying the delivery was “a real sign of support for Ukraine at a critical time for us.”
Acute Need For U.S Aid
According to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based thinktank, Ukraine’s need for US aid is now acute.
“The Russians are breaking out of positional warfare and beginning to restore manoeuvre to the battlefield because of the delays in the provision of US military assistance to Ukraine,” the ISW said in an assessment.
“Ukraine cannot hold the present lines now without the rapid resumption of US assistance, particularly air defence and artillery that only the US can provide rapidly and at scale,” it said.
A crucial element for Ukraine is the holdup in Washington of approval for an aid package that includes roughly $60b (£48.1bn/€56.4bn) for Ukraine.
U.S House Speaker, Mike Johnson said on Sunday that he would try to move the package forward this week.
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