Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued an appeal to the country's allies on Sunday to provide more US-made Patriot air defense systems after a week of more than 1,000 Russian airstrikes.
“We need the strong support of our partners,” Zelensky posted on his Telegram channel. “More Patriots for Ukraine means more protection for life,” he said.
Russian attacks caused many deaths and injuries.
According to Zelensky, Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 660 glide bombs, about 550 drones and almost 60 missiles over the past week. Ukrainian air defenses downed 33 missiles, including ballistic variants, and more than 300 drones.
Zelensky published a video showing the devastation caused by the attacks, for example in Kiev and Zaporizhzhya over the weekend, and also in the Donbass region in the east of the country.
Zelensky praised the armed forces, but said: “The task is still to protect our airspace.” He asked Ukraine's Western allies to provide more air defense systems.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian attack since February 2022. Over the weekend, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had taken more ground in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine suffers from a lack of soldiers
The Ukrainian army is suffering from a shortage of soldiers, said the commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Sunday.
“We need to increase the number of our mechanized groups,” he said on the radio. “But unfortunately the ability to move is not enough to cover this need.”
To boost the frontline forces, Syrskyi said personnel are now being withdrawn from logistics, supply and maintenance “within reasonable limits” to fill gaps and establish new units.
Syrskyi's statement was prompted by complaints from air force units that highly qualified personnel were being redeployed to the front.
The military leadership had stopped those efforts, Syrskyi said. These soldiers are seasoned experts who “cannot be replaced by anyone.”
Ukraine is suffering from a shortage of personnel for its frontline troops, partly because of the age limit for reservists. Although everyone must complete basic military service from the age of 18, soldiers are not required to enter combat from the age of 25.
Some Ukrainian federations have asked Kiev to lower the age limit.
Moscow accuses Ukraine of killing civilians
Also on Sunday, Moscow accused Ukrainian forces of killing at least seven civilians in the Kursk region of southern Russia while occupying the area.
The civilians were found in the basement of an apartment block in the village of Russkoye Porechnoye, which lies in the Sudzhansky district, said the central investigative commission in Moscow.
The commission's spokeswoman, Svetlana Petrenko, said the deaths were “an act of terrorism against the peaceful population” and said those responsible would face justice.
Russian state media earlier published video footage of a basement in which Russian soldiers pointed out the bodies of elderly victims who had apparently been tortured and then shot with their hands tied.
The somewhat obscure video material could not be independently verified, and there was no initial response from the Ukrainian side.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Sakharova described the killings as a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
“These atrocities are further evidence of the extremist and neo-Nazi attitudes towards the Kiev regime,” she said. She accused those responsible of committing “cannibalistic massacres” in frustration at the Ukrainian defeat. on the face.
The West is also responsible for the crime after providing arms and money to Kiev, she said.
Ukrainian forces launched a surprise offensive in the Russian region of Kursk in August, occupying dozens of towns.
The aim of the work is to improve Ukraine's situation ahead of possible negotiations to end the war, which began almost three years ago.
Kiev has accused the Russian armed forces of hundreds of war crimes during the conflict, including mass killings of civilians.
