Ukraine calls for more Patriot missiles to beef up its defense

KYIV, Ukraine

Kyiv has made renewed calls for its backers to send more shipments of Patriot missiles as the country fends off a new wave of Russian airstrikes. 

"The peculiarity of the current Russian attacks is the intensive use of ballistic missiles that can reach targets at extremely high speeds, leaving little time for people to take cover and causing significant destruction," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during an online press conference.

"Patriot and other similar systems are defensive by definition. They are designed to protect lives, not take them," he added.

Russian forces fired 190 rockets of various types, 140 drones and 700 guided bombs from March 18 through 24 alone.

Kuleba said ballistic missiles that climb up to a high altitude and then fall straight down to Earth were especially dangerous.

"They can hit targets at particularly high speeds, leaving people little time to seek shelter and causing immense damage," he said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also called for more Patriot missiles, along with warplanes, to defend against Russian aerial attacks.

"Bolstering Ukraine's air defense and expediting the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine are vital tasks. There are no rational explanations for why Patriots, which are plentiful around the world, are still not covering the skies of Kharkiv and other cities," Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Ukraine has warned that Russia is preparing for a major summer offensive while it waits on a $60 billion (€55.5 billion) aid package from the United States that has been held up for months by Congress.