Germany urgently appeals for Ukraine aid
Air defenses lacking as Russian attacks increase
BERLIN – Germany has appealed to European Union and NATO member states to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses as quickly as possible as Russian missiles pounded Ukrainian cities on Wednesday and its president repeated urgent calls for support.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock have approached the EU, NATO and third party countries in a new initiative that will also be discussed at a Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting this week.
Ukraine is facing a shortage of ammunition, with vital funding from the U.S. blocked by Republicans in Congress for months and the EU failing to deliver munitions on time.
“We and our partners around the world must now be just as resolute in our defense against Russian terror from the air,” Baerbock said ahead of the G7 ministerial meeting on the Italian island of Capri.
“Stronger air defenses are a matter of life and death for thousands of people in Ukraine and the best protection for our own security.”
In the latest strike, Russian missiles killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Wednesday, prompting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make another plea for weapons.
The German initiative was in response to the changing nature of the threat in Ukraine, a German defense ministry spokesperson told a briefing, adding that a number of countries had signaled their interest.
“Russia is increasingly using industrially produced glide bombs that can be fired from a great distance from the Ukrainian border,” the spokesperson said.
Facing choices
The Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Denmark quickly rallied behind the proposal.
“More air defenses are needed, and they are needed fast,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said after meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and his Danish and Czech counterparts in Brussels.
“We will consider, the three of us, how we can support this German initiative.”
Germany is Ukraine’s second-biggest donor of military aid after the United States and most recently pledged a U.S.-made Patriot air defense system and air defense missiles to Ukraine.
More than two years into its fullscale invasion, Russia has staged massive airstrikes on power stations and substations in recent weeks, prompting Kyiv to issue desperate appeals for supplies of high-end air defenses.
“This would not have happened if Ukraine had received sufficient air defense equipment and if the world’s determination to counter Russian terror had been sufficient,” Zelenskyy said about the attack on Chernihiv.
Zelenskyy earlier pointed to how effectively Israel and its allies had repelled a barrage of Iranian drones and missiles in an attack last weekend.
“European skies could have received the same level of protection long ago if
Ukraine had received similar full support from its partners in intercepting drones and missiles,” he said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen suggested European countries should consider “sending a few of our own air defense systems to Ukraine at a time when they, not we, are struggling daily to fight off the never-ending Russian attack.”
Stoltenberg said NATO defense ministers would focus in their planned talks this week on air defenses and supplying Ukraine with more weapons, even if that came at the expense of meeting their own countries’ stockpile targets.
“If allies face a choice between meeting NATO capability targets and providing more aid to Ukraine, my message is clear: Send more to Ukraine.”
17 killed in Russian airstrikes in Chernihiv
Three Russian missiles slammed into the city center of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people, wounding dozens and damaging civilian buildings, officials said.
Zelenskyy called on Kyiv’s allies to rush in air defense support after the city, which had a prewar population of 300,000, became the latest target of an intensifying Russian
Videos obtained by Reuters showed flames and columns of black smoke rising over Chernihiv, which is about 95 miles from the capital Kyiv and about 50 miles from the Russian border.
Three explosions ripped through a busy central area of the city just after 9 a.m. local time, destroying a hotel, officials said.
The strike also damaged several multistory residential buildings, a hospital, an education facility and dozens of private cars, officials said.
“Unfortunately, Russia continues to engage in terrorist activity against civilians and civilian infrastructure as confirmed by this strike on Chernihiv once again,” acting Mayor Oleksandr Lomako said on national television.
Sixty people, including three children, were wounded, the emergency services said.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, attacked with three Iskander cruise missiles, Chernihiv regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus told the Suspilne public broadcaster. airstrike campaign.
Sheltering in basements
“I haven’t come to my senses fully yet, and I don’t understand everything that happened. The main thing for me is that my child in school was in a basement (shelter),” local resident Iryna, 35, told Reuters. “The school is nearby, and I was most worried for them to have enough time to go down.”
Schools are equipped with shelters in basements.
As civilians cleared up glass and debris with shovels near houses, local doctors urged residents to donate blood and city officials declared a day of mourning.
Ukraine is facing an acute shortage of ammunition, including air defense systems and missiles, with vital funding from the U.S. blocked by Republicans in Congress for months and the EU failing to deliver munitions on time.
Russia has taken advantage of these delays in recent weeks, intensifying its attacks on Ukrainian cities and targeting the energy sector and other critical infrastructure.