Ukraine pleads for air defence missiles as Russian attack on Kyiv kills 17
Ukraine is urgently requesting more air defense missiles after a massive Russian ballistic missile attack killed 17 people in Kyiv. President Zelensky noted that current supplies are insufficient to intercept modern ballistic threats, leaving logistics centers and civilians vulnerable.
Why it matters
The shortage of air defense systems highlights the ongoing military strain on Ukraine and the strategic impact of shifting global geopolitical priorities.
Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region kill at least 17 people.
Russia fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and destroying warehouses and logistics centres of major retailers, Ukrainian officials said, as a shortage of air defence missiles leaves Ukraine vulnerable.
Multiple explosions ripped through the area during the night, and fires lit up the dark skies over the Ukrainian capital, which has come under missile attack every three to four days in recent weeks as Russia has escalated its air war.
“Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram, urging Ukraine’s foreign allies to replenish its supplies of interceptors. Deliveries of air defence missiles were three times smaller than in 2025, he added.
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