This building in Kiev was hit by a Russian drone attack.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Kyiv, Moscow After the massive Russian attacks with drones, cruise missiles and rockets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the country’s air defense for saving hundreds of lives. There were some hits, but most of the drones and rockets were shot down, said Zelenskiy in his video message distributed in Kiev on Monday evening.
“The world must see that terror is losing,” he said. At least a few hundred lives were saved by the anti-aircraft defense in one day, he praised.
US Patriot-type anti-aircraft systems helped destroy the evil, said Zelensky, who also called for more help to perfect the country’s defenses. “And of course there is no greater humiliation for a terrorist state than the success of our warriors,” he said. “There is no alternative but the complete liberation of our country.”
Zelensky also reported that he met with the military leadership in Kiev to discuss the steps of the major offensive against the Russian invasion.
The schedule is the most important thing. “The schedule of how we will advance. We will. The decisions are made.”
Russia continues attack on Ukraine
Russia also attacked the Ukrainian capital Kiev with drones on Tuesday. Fragments of the Russian missiles shot down by the anti-aircraft defenses crashed into a residential building and killed a civilian, and an elderly woman was taken to a hospital, the Ukrinform state agency reported, citing the city administration and Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko. The block of flats caught fire. The search work is still ongoing, as there may still be people trapped under the rubble.
Other fragments of downed enemy drones crashed in different districts. According to the military administration, more than 20 drones were destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses in Kiev airspace. Kiev has been hit by such attacks for the 17th time this month.
On Monday, Russia launched its most massive airstrikes since the beginning of the month. There were dozens of missile and drone strikes, hour-long air alerts at night and twice during the day, and massive explosions when the flying objects were shot down. According to military information, the air defense had shot down eleven Iskander missiles in the morning. Burning fragments of fired missiles fell in some quarters. Never since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on February 24 last year have there been so many attacks in Ukraine in one month.
Air raid in Kiev: heaviest drone attack since the beginning of the war
Zelensky calls Erdogan and thanks two EU countries
Zelensky also informed that he congratulated the Turkish head of state Tayyip Recep Erdogan on his victory in the presidential election and counted on continued cooperation between the two countries. Zelensky said Ukraine and Turkey must work to strengthen security in the region, in Europe and in the world. Despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Turkey, a NATO country, has close ties to Russia and does not support the West’s sanctions against the resource superpower.
Zelensky thanked Erdogan for personally lobbying earlier this month for a two-month extension of the agreement with Russia to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. Russian President Vladimir Putin also congratulated Erdogan on the victory in a telephone call and, according to the Kremlin, spoke out in favor of expanding cooperation between the two countries.
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The Ukrainian leader also especially thanked Denmark and the Netherlands for their military assistance. Denmark’s defense aid alone will now total 4.7 billion US dollars (4.38 billion euros). He also spoke to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte about the new fighter jet coalition. Ukraine hopes that the planned delivery of F-16 fighter jets will strengthen its air defenses and provide even better protection for people.
Ukrainian defense minister hopes for German Eurofighters
The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov sees the possibility of delivery of Eurofighters from Germany. “If Great Britain and Germany were to combine their capacities for the Eurofighter, that would be an important step,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group and the French newspaper “Ouest France”.
There is already an international coalition of main battle tanks with the core model of the German Leopard 2 and American Abrams and British Challengers. You could also form a fighter jet coalition with the core model F-16 as well as Eurofighters and Swedish Gripen jets, Resnikov explained. In the middle of the month, Germany and Great Britain had ruled out supplying fighter jets to Ukraine in the foreseeable future.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:
Ukraine approves sanctions on Iran
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian parliament passed the 50-year sanctions against Iran demanded by Zelenskiy. Trade in military equipment and so-called dual-use goods, which can be used for civil and military purposes, are to be banned.
Ukraine wants to end its economic and financial obligations to Iran and stop the export of capital to the Islamic Republic. Zelenski had also spoken out in favor of a ban on technology transfer and investments in Iran. The National Security Council had previously approved the decision. The background to the tensions between Kiev and Tehran is the ongoing Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. According to Ukrainian information, Moscow mainly uses so-called kamikaze drones of the Iranian type Shahed-136/131. Iran denies this.
That will be important on Tuesday
Heavy fighting continues in eastern Ukraine. In the ruined town of Bakhmut, which was occupied by Russian troops and once had a population of 70,000, the fighters of Wagner’s private army want to continue their retreat. The regular Russian army is supposed to take control there. However, the Ukrainian leadership is still not giving up on Bakhmut and wants to recapture the city, like all areas occupied by Russian troops.
More: Current news on the development of the Ukraine war can be found in our news blog