Ukraine hit by new missile blitz

UKRAINE yesterday urged its European allies to end the ‘talk and political hesitation’ about supplying fighter jets after coming under fierce bombardment overnight.

Russia unleashed 71 guided cruise missiles from Tu-95 bombers and from navy ships in the Black Sea, as well as 35 anti-aircraft S-300 missiles and seven Iran-made killer drones.

Ukraine said it shot down 61 of the missiles – including ten over the capital Kyiv – and five of the drones, but the others managed to hit their targets in the early hours of yesterday.

The strikes caused severe damage to the energy infrasructure in the south, east and centre of the country.

It may have been a response to president Volodymyr Zelensky’s two-day visit to Europe this week to plead for more military support, particularly fighter planes.

His speeches in London and Brussels were greeted with huge applause but so far no solid pledges to step up military help in the skies have been made.

After yesterday’s barrage had ended, presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter: ‘Russia has been striking at Ukrainian cities all night & morning... Enough talk & political hesitation. Only fast key decisions: long-range missiles, fighter jets, operational supplies, logistics for Ukraine.’

President Zelensky claimed that some of the missiles had flown through the sovereign air space of Moldova and Nato-member Romania. Moldova condemned the intrusion into its air territory, but Romania denied that the same had happened in its air space.

Officials in Zaporizhzhia said the city had been hit 17 times in one hour, making it the most intense period of attacks since the beginning of the invasion.