After trilateral talks with the US and Russia in Abu Dhabi, Zelenskyy has traveled to Vilnius for meetings with Poland and Lithuania.
Ahead of the meetings, the president commented on the recent attacks by Russia. According to Zelenskyy, Russia has sent around 70 missiles, 1,700 attack drones and around 1,400 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine in one week. This has in turn forced around half a million residents to evacuate from Kyiv and the president is therefore once again calling for reinforcements for the country's air defense.
The attacks have caused widespread power outages in the middle of a bitterly cold winter, and Zelenskyy calls them devastating. In Vilnius, Lithuania, he says it is crucial that Ukraine's Western allies continue to provide ammunition for defense.
“We are working with the US and Europe to ensure better protection,” he writes.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that nearly 1,700 residential buildings in the city were without power. He was referring to large Soviet-era high-rise buildings, of which Kyiv has at least 6,000 in total. Hundreds of thousands of people live in them.
Repair work is also being made more difficult by the recent low temperatures, Klitschko points out.
