A missile strike, confirmed to be of Russian origin, resulted in at least eight fatalities and 21 injuries in the eastern region of Ukraine on Wednesday. In light of this, Ukraine expressed an urgent need for additional backing to reinforce its air defences from the West. This plea comes even as commitments to supply new weapons were made by the United States and Germany.
The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who hails from the city under attack, emphasised the urgency of strengthening Ukrainian air defences following this devastating missile assault on Kryvyi Rih. He further stressed the immediate need for modern air defence systems that can assure maximum safeguarding of Ukrainian civilians and assets.
It was reported by US outlets that the White House approved the supply of an additional advanced Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine, currently positioned in neighbouring Poland. Elsewhere, Germany pledged to supply 100 more missiles for the same system in collaboration with Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway.
Russia has reportedly been targeting Ukraine’s power infrastructure with drone and missile strikes, resulting in the destruction of around half of Ukraine’s electricity-producing capacity. As a result, fears of extended power cuts loom large, especially with winter fast approaching.
Ukrainian officials also reported a separate attack by Russia on a “critical infrastructure” facility in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region on Wednesday. Earlier that same day, air defence systems had successfully intercepted 29 out of the 30 missile and drone attacks across the capital Kyiv and other areas. Unfortunately, the attacks still resulted in several injuries from falling debris and ignited a fire at an industrial site outside Kyiv.
According to Ukraine’s military, they struck Russian air defences in occupied Crimea twice in the same week, supposedly eliminating radar units from one S-400 and one S-300 missile battery. These attacks have yet to be confirmed by Moscow.
Finally, intense combat is still ongoing in the eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Donetsk region’s Pokrovsk, Chasiv Yar and Kurakhove districts, as well as in the Kupiansk and Vovchansk districts of the Kharkiv province.
Mr Zelenskiy, Ukrainian leader, is anticipated to participate in the G7 leader’s gathering in Italy, happening across Thursday and Friday. Later, he proposes to partake in a Swiss-hosted “peace summit”, hoping to gain backing from a multitude of countries for a peace proposal that is planned for presentation to Russia in a subsequent summit. It should be noted that Russia was not extended an invitation to the summit to be held by Lake Lucerne over the upcoming weekend.
Kyiv is optimistic that G7 countries will intensify the sanctions on Russia and reach a consensus on utilising the seized Russian assets held in the West. They aim to raise tens of billions of euros to cater to military backing and Ukraine’s reconstruction endeavours.
Aside from this, an encounter between Mr Zelenskiy and US president Joe Biden in Italy is on the cards, where it is rumoured that a security pact involving close collaboration on weapons supply and production, defence training, intelligence exchange among numerous other fields will be inked.
During a trip to Budapest, NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, conveyed that Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban had definitively stated that Hungary does not plan to participate or obstruct any alliance aid programmes dedicated to Ukraine.