Zelenskyy says Ukraine ‘ran out of missiles’ during defense of power plant

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday said that his country “ran out of missiles” while defending last week a key power plant supplying electricity to the capital Kyiv, as well as other neighboring regions.

“11 missiles headed towards it (Trypilska Thermal Power Plant). We took down the first seven, and the other four destroyed Trypilska. Why? Because we had zero missiles. We ran out of all missiles,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with American public broadcaster PBS.

Concerning remarks by people on the inability of Ukraine’s partners to provide the country with “certain capabilities” because it would portray an image of NATO’s involvement in the war, Zelenskyy, reminding Iran’s recent attack on Israel, went on to question whether Israel is in NATO.

“Here is the answer. Israel is not a NATO member. But NATO member states defended Israel, they showed that Israel was not alone. This is a lesson and a response to anyone on any continent who says that Ukraine should be helped very carefully so as not to drag NATO members into war,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy further said Ukraine has “no chance of winning” the war if US military aid does not arrive, and that the ratio of artillery shells between Kyiv and Moscow is “one to 10.”

“Can we hold our ground? No. In any case, with these statistics, they will push us back every day. If we want to defend what remains under our control, then we need to reach proportional numbers – 10 to 10,” he added.

Last Thursday, the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant, located 45 kilometers (27.9 miles) south of Kyiv, was destroyed in a Russian missile strike, Andriy Hota, the head of Ukrainian thermal energy provider Centerenergo's supervisory board, told Kyiv-based news agency Interfax-Ukraine.