Ukraine's air defense system needs to be strengthened: Zelenskyy

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy late Wednesday called on Kyiv’s partners to strengthen the country’s air defense system amid Russian missile strikes in the Odesa and Zhytomyr regions earlier in the day.

“This was perhaps the largest attempt by Russia to inflict pain on Odesa in the entire period of full-scale war. Thanks to the air defense and all our defenders of the sky, the consequences of this strike are still less than they could have been. With each such strike, we appeal to our partners again and again: Ukraine's sky shield needs to be strengthened,” Zelenskyy said in a video address.

Zelenskyy argued that the missile strikes not only targeted Ukraine and its people, but also others as “about a million tons of food is stored in the ports that were attacked today.”

“The port terminal that suffered the most from the Russian terror last night had 60,000 tons of agricultural products stored in it, which were intended to be shipped to China. That is, everyone is affected by this Russian terror. Everyone in the world should be interested in bringing Russia to justice for its terror,” Zelenskyy said.

Critical infrastructure in various regions of Ukraine were hit by Russian missile strikes earlier on Wednesday, most notably in the Odesa region, where 10 people sought medical help due to the strikes, according to local authorities.