Russia missiles slam into Chernihiv highlighting want for air protection | EUROtoday

“This would not have happened if Ukraine had received enough air defense equipment and if the world’s determination to counter Russian terror was also sufficient,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “There needs to be sufficient commitment from partners and sufficient support to reflect it.”

Ukraine has three Patriot air protection techniques, however officers right here say 26 are wanted to cowl all the nation. Last weekend, after Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba intensified his appeals for extra techniques, Germany pledged to ship one other to Ukraine.

“Ukraine urgently needs more Patriot systems,” the Foreign Ministry posted on X after the assault.

A $60 billion assist bundle for Ukraine has been delayed within the U.S. Congress for months, as House Republicans refuse to permit a vote on the help. In the meantime, Russia has exploited Ukraine’s ammunition and air protection shortages, destroying power infrastructure throughout the nation and slowly gaining floor within the east. Russian forces are presently advancing towards the city of Chasiv Yar, outdoors Bakhmut, the town they seized final 12 months.

After the United States, Britain, France and Jordan helped repel a significant Iranian missile and drone assault on Israel on Saturday, Ukrainian officers pointed to their fast intervention as proof that such protection is feasible. Kuleba once more referred to these efforts on Wednesday after the strike on Chernihiv.

“These innocent people would not have been killed or injured if Ukraine had sufficient air defense capabilities,” Kuleba wrote on X. “Three days ago in the Middle East, we saw what reliable protection of human lives from missiles looks like.”

“Ukraine’s partners have the necessary means to help us save Ukrainian lives with the same level of efficiency,” he added.

The strike destroyed an eight-story constructing and broken a hospital, college facility and residential buildings, officers stated. Three youngsters are among the many injured, and one of many useless is a 25-year-old police officer who was killed in her residence.

“People may be under the rubble,” Viacheslav Chaus, head of Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, wrote on Telegram. “Rescuers and medics are making every effort to reach people.”

The strike is among the deadliest to hit the town since Russia invaded in February 2022. In the weeks that adopted, Russia recurrently focused civilian infrastructure within the metropolis, together with properties, hospitals and a bread line.

Last summer season, seven individuals have been killed and 140 others wounded after a Russian missile struck a theater within the metropolis that was internet hosting a drone conference. Many lives have been saved in that assault as a result of attendees rushed to the theater shelter earlier than the strike.