Russia Zelensky appeals to allies after deadly attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is asking his allies for more air defense systems for his country. He referred to the recent Russian missile attack on the large city of Dnipro, in which five people were killed and over 50 others injured. Residential buildings and a hospital are also said to have been damaged.
04.07.2024, 05:16
SDA
"There were also missile attacks on our other regions, guided bombs on Kharkiv and our frontline positions," said Zelenskyi in his evening video address yesterday. According to Ukrainian reports, 14 people were injured in the attack on a suburb of Kharkiv.
Zelenskyi said that his country's army needed more weapons to repel these attacks. "We can only stop all this with more air defense systems, only with more long-range attacks on the bases and air bases of the Russian terrorists."
Hope for agreement at the NATO summit
Four Patriot air defense systems are currently deployed in Ukraine. Two of them were provided by Germany. Selenskyj recently estimated that his country needs at least six more Patriot systems. Ukraine hopes that a decision on this will be made at the NATO summit next week.
The Ukrainian president has also repeatedly demanded permission from the allies to use the supplied Western weapons against targets deep within Russian territory, such as military airports. "We are actively discussing all of this with our partners at all levels," said the head of state.
Until now, the Ukrainian military has only been allowed to use heavy weapons in the frontline area and east of Kharkiv in the border region with Russia, because the allies are concerned about becoming too involved in the war with Russia. When attacking deep in the Russian hinterland, Ukraine uses drones, which do not have the same explosive effect as cruise missiles or rockets.
Heavy fighting near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine
The area around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region is currently the focus of frontline fighting. According to the 47th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces deployed there, Russian troops are attempting to break through the Ukrainians' defensive lines. The Russian military is relying primarily on massed infantry attacks supported by combat drones, said brigade spokeswoman Anastasija Blischtschik on television.
"The fact that we have hardly seen any armored vehicles on the battlefield for a month is at least unique, as they (the Russians) have run out of these weapons," Blishchik said. Reconnaissance drones showed "huge graveyards" of destroyed armored vehicles. That is why the Russian side is trying to dominate the fighting with strong infantry forces.
According to the General Staff in Kiev, the Russian military is trying to "increase the number of strikes" in the region around Pokrovsk. Accordingly, the defensive lines are being reinforced and more ammunition is being brought to this section of the front.
The warring parties also engaged in heavy fighting around Chassiv Yar, a few kilometers west of the city of Bakhmut, which was captured by the Russian army. According to Ukrainian military officials, Russian ground troops repeatedly attempted to penetrate Ukrainian positions there under a protective umbrella of so-called kamikaze drones and artillery. The current frontline situation cannot be assessed independently.
