“It is simply nonsense that production, in today's world, has not yet been scaled up to the level actually needed to protect people from ballistic terror,” he writes on X.
Russia attacked overnight Monday with a total of 68 missiles and 351 drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
According to Zelenskyy, all six Kalibr missiles and 31 of the other 33 cruise missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. However, all 29 ballistic missiles fired by Russia hit their targets.
Zelenskyy writes that the mixed result highlights how important it is for Ukraine's allies to provide “necessary capabilities.”
“Of crucial importance”
When it comes to powerful ballistic missiles, the defense currently lacks sufficient countermeasures. Zelenskyy hopes that decisions will be made during the NATO summit in Turkey that will change this.
“It is crucial that the world - especially the United States and our European partners - leave the NATO summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defense,” he writes.
One solution is to allow Ukraine to licence-produce defensive weapons, such as missiles for the American Patriot system, Zelenskyy believes.
The attacks overnight killed 15 people in the capital Kyiv and seven more in the surrounding region. More than 80 people were injured, according to Ukrainian emergency services.
Several residential buildings were damaged and partially collapsed.
“At 1:30 a.m. there was a loud bang. A shock wave, all the windows were blown out,” says 68-year-old Kyiv resident Oleksandr Bakhlukov.
Has escalated
Another resident, 20-year-old Chrystyna Pjatetska, tells how the lights went out and the stairwell was filled with thick smoke.
“When we left the house, there were bodies there. When we came down, cars started exploding,” she says.
Both Russia and Ukraine have recently escalated their long-range attacks.
Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea was without power overnight Monday after a Ukrainian attack, writes Russian-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev on Telegram.
A Ukrainian attack caused a fire at a large oil refinery in Omsk in western Siberia, deep inside Russia, according to the Ukrainian military.
In total, Russia claims to have shot down more than 500 Ukrainian drones during the night.
