Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a “full protective shield” of air defence systems to be provided to his country following a campaign of what he described as “Russian missile terror”.
Amid missile shelling attacks in the Donetsk region and the Black Sea port city of Odesa, President Zelensky has called on Western allies to provide Ukraine with more anti-aircraft systems to protect the entirety of the country.
“Ukraine needs a full-fledged sky shield – this is the only way to defeat Russian missile terror. We have already shown that we can shoot down even the Russian missiles that the terrorists boasted about,” the Ukrainian president wrote on Twitter.
“Thanks to the help of our partners and the air defense systems provided to Ukraine, our defenders of the sky have saved thousands of lives. But we need more air defense systems for our entire territory, for all our cities and communities. The world must not get used to Russian terror – terror must be defeated. And it is possible!”
The comments followed another round of attacks on the city of Odesa on Sunday morning, following strikes that appeared to target grain storage facilities earlier in the week.
The attacks come as Ukraine’s much-hyped counter offensive continues to stall against the heavily entrenched Russian military, which also has maintained air superiority over much of the frontline, complicating matters further for the smaller Ukrainian armed forces.
While the Biden administration approved the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine earlier this year, the country is still waiting on the delivery, and in anycase still need their pilots to be trained how to use the warplanes, a process which typically takes months.
The U.S. has provided Ukraine with two full Patriot anti-aircraft systems, and the weapons manufacturer Raytheon has said that it plans on sending five more to the country by the end of next year.
Ukraine claimed that the attacks on Sunday had severely damaged the historic Transfiguration Orthodox Christian cathedral in the city, however, Russia denied that the church was targeted and suggested that the damage may have come from the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft defensive missile instead.
“Taking into account the video footage published by local residents from the Transfiguration Church, the most likely reason for its destruction was the fall of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile as a result of illiterate actions of operators of air defense systems, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine deliberately have in residential areas of settlements, including the city of Odessa,” Russia’s Ministry of Defence said according to state media RIA.
Nevertheless, Zelensky vowed that there would be retaliation for the destruction of the cathedral, which reportedly took the lives of two people.
“Rocket against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, against a cathedral… There can be no excuse for Russian evil,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel. “As always, this evil will lose. And there will definitely be a retaliation to Russian terrorists for Odesa. They will feel this retaliation.”
“All those who suffered from this latest terrorist attack are being provided with assistance. I am grateful to everyone who is helping people and to everyone who is with Odesa in their thoughts and emotions. We will get through this. We will restore peace. And for this, we must defeat the Russian evil,” Zelensky added.