Ukraine needs the means to destroy the Russian bomb carriers used by the attackers to strike Ukrainian cities and civilians, states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to Zelenskyy, since the beginning of June, the Russian army has dropped more than 2,400 guided bombs on Ukraine, about 700 of them in the Kharkiv region. Reacting to today's Russian strike on Kharkiv, the president said that Ukraine is working as hard as possible to gain the ability to fully respond to the terror that affects all Ukrainians.
"Ukraine needs the necessary forces and means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, including Russian combat aircraft where they are. This step is necessary. I am grateful to all partners, I am grateful to America for a strong decision that helped us stabilize the situation in the Kharkiv region border area - we were able to destroy Russian missile launchers near the border and the concentration of Russian occupiers. Such decisions should be continued," he emphasized.
The number of Russian strikes on Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region has significantly decreased, which shows that it is possible to protect Ukrainian cities and communities from Russian bombs.
"Therefore, modern air defense systems for Ukraine - Patriot, and accelerating the training of our pilots for F-16, and, most importantly, a sufficient range of our weapons - is what is really necessary. It is necessary to protect lives - and only for this purpose," the President added.
This afternoon, Russian troops dropped 4 guided aerial bombs on Kharkiv, one of which hit a residential building.
So far, more than 40 people have been injured and three killed as a result of the Russian strike on Kharkiv. A rescue operation is underway at the site of the strike, but presumably, there are no more people under the rubble.