Ukraine air defence shortage
A LACK of air defence missiles prevented Ukraine from thwarting a Russian missile attack last week that destroyed the biggest power plant in the region around the capital Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy’s comments, which follow repeated warnings from his government to its allies about scarce air defences, reflect the dire situation Ukraine finds itself in as Russia scales up strikes on its energy system. “There were 11 missiles flying. We destroyed the first seven, and four (remaining) destroyed Trypillia. Why? Because there were zero missiles. We ran out of missiles to defend Trypillia,” he said.
Zelenskiy has earlier warned that Ukraine had already had to make tough choices about what to protect and said his country could run out of defensive missiles entirely if Russian attacks continued apace.
Destroyed in an 11 March strike, Trypilska thermal power plant was the biggest energy facility near Kyiv and was built to have a capacity of 1 800 megawatts, more than the pre-war needs of Ukraine’s biggest city. Other stations and imports have filled the gap for now but residents have been urged to save power.
It is the second concerted Russian attack on the energy system since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than two years ago and has proven much more devastating than the first one.
In recent attacks, Ukraine lost about 7 gigawatt of power generating capacity, with major thermal power plants and transmitting capabilities significantly damaged.
Moscow says the strikes are in retaliation for recent attacks inside Russia.
Western allies have been reluctant to send additional air defences to Ukraine, which says it needs 25 Patriot systems to cover its territory properly. Germany has pledged to deliver another system.
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy signed into law a controversial mobilisation bill aimed at boosting troop numbers, parliament said yesterday. The bill, which also does not demobilise long-serving soldiers from the front, had been “returned with the signature of the President” on April 16.
It remains unclear how many troops could be mobilised under the new provisions, although some serving military personnel and analysts have expressed concern that the law would not be effective enough in addressing the shortages.