Volodymyr Zelensky asked Nato states to shoot down Russian missiles to compensate for Kyiv’s defence deficit as he pushed Ukraine’s allies for more direct involvement in the war.
Reminding the military alliance that Ukraine still awaits the delivery of American F-16 fighter jets to counter Russian forces, he said: “You can’t provide that right now? OK … returning to the planes that you have on the territory of neighbouring Nato countries: raise them up … shoot down targets, protect civilians.”
The call to accelerate aid and push so-called “red lines” of engagement in the conflict reflects the growing pressure that Ukrainian forces are under along more than 1,000km of front lines in the northeast, east and south of the country.
Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed that Russia has lost more than 1,500 soldiers in the past week in the grinding war in Kharkiv even as Vladimir Putin said Moscow has “no plans” to take Ukraine’s second city.
Russia has lost 1,572 soldiers in just the last seven days and 263 pieces of military equipment, including 75 drones, 66 army vehicles and eight tanks, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed. These numbers cannot be independently verified.
