17 killed in Kyiv as Russian forces launch overnight drone and missile strikes

Darwin, 06 August : Russian forces launched drones and missiles at Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and surrounding areas from Tuesday night until early Wednesday morning. At least 17 people were killed and more than 40 others were injured in Kyiv.

The information was confirmed in a statement issued by the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. In a statement, Russia’s Defence Ministry said the attack targeted Ukraine’s transportation infrastructure, logistics facilities and military supply distribution centers.

Ukraine’s military uses U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to intercept and destroy Russian cruise and ballistic missiles before they reach their targets. However, Ukraine has frequently faced shortages of the specialized PAC-3 interceptor missiles needed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles.

To address the shortage, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has recently been lobbying the United States for permission to manufacture Patriot air defense systems and PAC-3 missiles domestically. The latest attack came amid those efforts.

The issue was also highlighted in a statement from Zelenskyy’s office following Wednesday’s attack. The statement said, “If we had ballistic interceptors at our disposal, today’s attack and the loss of life could have been avoided.”

The United States has so far not given the green light for transferring Patriot air defense technology to Ukraine.

Later Wednesday evening, in a post on Facebook, Zelenskyy said he was also seeking support from NATO, the Western military alliance, as well as the United States for an effective missile defense system. However, he said Ukraine was facing bureaucratic obstacles in that effort as well.

In his Facebook post, Zelenskyy said, “It is essential to remove all red tape as soon as possible and provide Ukraine with an effective missile defense system. Quite literally, the daily lives of Ukrainian citizens depend on this decision.”

Source: AFP, Firstpost