Zelensky calls for air shield after missiles target Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the West to deliver air defense systems to Kyiv after an overnight Russian missile attack injured 17 in the capital and surrounding region.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 31 Russian missiles targeting Kyiv, an attack that comes after Moscow vowed to respond to an escalation in Ukrainian strikes on its border regions.

“It is possible to put an end to it through global unity... Russian terrorists do not have missiles capable of bypassing Patriot and other leading world systems,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.

Local officials said falling debris from the missiles injured 17 — 13 in Kyiv and four in the surrounding region.

The air force said Russia fired two Iskander ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles, launched from strategic bombers.

Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy head of Zelensky’s office, said all of them were shot down.

Zelensky posted a video of windows blown out of a residential building and debris strewn across the street as firefighters used water hoses on the smoking building.

The attack comes after a sharp escalation in Ukrainian strikes on Russian border regions and oil refineries over the last two weeks.

On Thursday, the Russian governor of the Belgorod region, on the border with Ukraine, said five people were injured in the latest aerial bombardment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Russia had a “plan” for how to respond to the uptick in Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions, where he vowed to restore security.

Aid blockage

Meanwhile, a top United States official said Wednesday that Washington could not predict when a vital $60-billion military aid package for Ukraine would be passed in Congress

Addressing the stalled aid bill while on a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: “I’m not going to make predictions about exactly when this will get done, but we are working to get it done as soon as possible... but I cannot make a specific prediction today.”

Republicans in the US House of Representatives have been blocking a sweeping aid package since last year, with the funding caught up in domestic arguments over President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.