One Ukrainian interception against 27 Russian missiles: Zelensky admits a shortfall and asks for additional support
Russia launched a large-scale attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Saturday, using ballistic missiles and drones, exposing a shortage of interceptor missiles.
The attack killed at least nine people and injured twenty-eight others, including four children, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russia had fired thirty-five missiles, including twenty-seven ballistic missiles, in addition to one hundred and eighty-five attack drones, noting that Kyiv had been the primary target of the assault.
Shortage of interceptor missiles
Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine had managed to intercept only one out of the twenty-seven ballistic missiles, attributing this outcome to a shortage of interceptor missiles required to operate the US-made Patriot air-defense systems.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said that Russia had intensified its aerial attacks after failing to achieve its objectives on the battlefield, calling for additional air-defense and missile-defense systems, as well as more interceptor missiles.
He added that « the air battle will determine the course of this war », arguing that strengthening air defenses would bring the prospects for peace closer.
Casualties and damage
Witnesses interviewed by Reuters reported that more than twelve explosions shook Kyiv during several waves of attacks.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office stated that damage had been recorded in seven districts of the capital, with fires breaking out and power outages affecting several areas.
According to the authorities, seven people were killed in the Darnytskyi district, while two others lost their lives in the Solomianskyi district. Twenty-eight people were also injured, including four children wounded by shrapnel.
Damage to the Lithuanian embassy
The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that its embassy in Kyiv had sustained damage after a missile struck near its perimeter during the attack.
The ministry confirmed that no casualties had been reported, while noting that the embassy’s windows had been shattered, solar panels had been damaged and debris had been scattered across the compound.
The Russian account
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had carried out precision strikes overnight from the air, land and sea against missile production facilities, electronic warfare equipment and radar installations in Kyiv and its surrounding areas.
The ministry stated that the strikes targeted facilities producing missile and drone components, electronic warfare systems, as well as sites used for assembling and storing drones. The attacks also reportedly hit a logistics center on the outskirts of Kyiv responsible for receiving and assembling drone components and warhead assembly lines.
The Russian Ministry of Defense further claimed that its forces had destroyed two cargo vessels in the Black Sea, south of Odesa, alleging that they were carrying military shipments intended for the Ukrainian armed forces.
