Russia 'taking advantage' of Ukraine's lack of air defence: Zelenskyy
Kiev laments Moscow's air strikes on frontline towns, saying "Russian terrorists are taking advantage" of deficiencies in air defence protection.
Zelenskyy has pointed a finger at the West, saying "This weakness is not ours, but the world's, which has not dared to deal with terrorists in the way they deserve for three years." / Photo: @ZelenskyyUa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia was leveraging his country's lack of air defence systems to launch "brutal" strikes on frontline towns and cities.
"Russian terrorists are taking advantage of the fact that Ukraine still lacks sufficient air defence protection and the reliable ability to destroy terrorist launchers exactly where they are located –– near our borders," Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.
An extremely brutal Russian attack on Kharkiv and Lyubotyn. According to preliminary data, Russia launched 15 missiles at once. Unfortunately, there are casualties. Emergency services have already arrived at the scene of the attacks, and all those injured will receive the… pic.twitter.com/ZFUJLIonpI
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 23, 2024
In the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv, Russian strikes killed at least five people, regional authorities said, in the latest aerial bombardment on the war-battered hub.
The surrounding region of Kharkiv has become the latest flashpoint of the war after Russian forces launched a surprise ground offensive in the border territory this month forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.
"Five people were killed and nine were wounded," Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov said in a post on social media.
The regional governor however said six people had been killed in the barrage of more than a dozen projectiles and that as many as 16 were wounded.
Kharkiv, which is the second-largest city in Ukraine and lies just dozens of kilometres from the border with Russia, has been under persistent shelling since Moscow's forces attacked in February 2022.
Separately, the head of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russian territory, said a 74-year-old man was killed by Russian shelling on the village of Mala Tokmachka.
Russian forces have in recent weeks made their biggest territorial gains in the war-battered east of the last 18 months as Ukraine waits for desperately needed US and European weapon supplies.
The advances in Kharkiv have forced nearly 11,000 people to flee their homes since Moscow launched its ground assault on May 10, regional officials said Thursday.
Russian authorities meanwhile said that Ukrainian attacks on the border region of Belgorod and in the occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk left two dead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his army launched the offensive in Kharkiv to create a buffer zone that would protect Russian border villages from Ukrainian attacks.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.