More than 50 countries will meet on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss upgrading Ukraine’s air defences, only two days after Russian missiles rained down on cities across the country, including Kyiv.
Advanced air defence systems are intended to defend entire cities from air strikes. On Monday, Russian air raids in Ukraine killed 19 people, injured over 100, and knocked off power across the country.
According to a German defence ministry source, Ukraine received the first of four IRIS-T SLM air defence systems Germany committed to supply on Tuesday.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg encouraged partners to supply additional air defence systems ahead of a two-day meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers on October 12-13 in Brussels.
He described Russia’s missile attacks as a sign of weakness and the outcome of President Vladimir Putin’s lack of alternatives.
‘The reality is that they are unable to advance on the battlefield. On the battlefield, Russia is actually losing,’ Stoltenberg explained.
‘Ukraine has momentum and is making substantial gains, while Russia is increasingly resorting to heinous and indiscriminate strikes on civilians and essential infrastructure.’
Following the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, Putin warned Ukraine on Monday that any additional ‘terrorist’ actions targeting Russia’s ‘essential civilian infrastructure’ would be met with brutal retaliation.
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