Putin unleashes 'Dagger' hypersonic missiles on Kyiv injuring 17 just hours before arrival of NATO chiefs - as Zelensky pleads for more weapons from the West
- Russia carried out its largest attack on Kyiv in weeks, firing over 30 missiles
- Zelensky called on the West to deliver air defense systems after the attacks
Russian President Vladimir Putin has unleased 'dagger' hypersonic missiles on Kyiv, injuring more than a dozen people just hours before NATO chiefs arrived in the region.
Russia carried out its largest attack on the Ukrainian capital in weeks, firing more than 30 missiles at Kyiv early Thursday, after Putin vowed retribution for escalating strikes on Russia's border regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to deliver air defense systems after the attacks, which wounded 17 in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
Ukraine's air force said it shot down 31 Russian missiles fired towards Kyiv.
NATO Military Committee Chief Rob Bauer, during his visit to the capital Thursdaym said Ukraine's allies should not be too pessimistic about its ability to repel Russian troops and called for important aid packages to be delivered quickly.
Bauer led the first official visit to Kyiv by a NATO military delegation since February 2022 when Russia sent thousands of troops to Ukraine in a multi-pronged invasion.
Ukrainian firefighters are at the scene of a missile strike in Kyiv on March 21, 2024. Russia carried out its largest attack on the Ukrainian capital in weeks, firing more than 30 missiles at the capital today
Rescuers work at a site of a building damaged during a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 21, 2024
Rescuers work at a site of private houses destroyed during a Russian missile attack. Ukraine's air force said it shot down 31 Russian missiles fired towards Kyiv today
Firefighters spray water on a burning building at the site of a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine
Kyiv's troops are facing shortages of ammunition shells and manpower, and are on the back foot in the east where Russian forces are inching forward.
'Ukraine needs even more support. And you need it now,' Bauer told the Kyiv Security Forum. 'Time in Ukraine is not measured in days, weeks or months.
'It is measured in human lives. In allied nations a week is a week. In Ukraine a week is a mother, a father, child, friend, lover, lost forever.'
He hailed Ukraine's resilience and ability to adjust quickly while changing many aspects of modern warfare.
Bauer also met Ukraine's Army Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi for talks on the current combat situation. Syrskyi said on Facebook that ammunition supplies and air defences were discussed.
Bauer had a talk with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on prospects for combat training for Ukrainian servicemen and defence industries cooperation, the ministry said.
'While the world may have been overly optimistic in 2023 we should not make the same mistake becoming overly pessimistic in 2024,' Bauer told the forum, expressing confidence in Ukraine's ability to succeed on the battlefield.
Local officials said falling debris from the missiles injured 17 people - 13 in Kyiv and four in the surrounding region.
The air force said Russia fired two Iskander ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles, launched from strategic bombers.
'Our defenders worked successfully and shot down all the missiles,' said Oleksiy Kuleba, the deputy head of Zelensky's office.
Halyna, a local resident, throws stuff near her house which was destroyed during a Russian missile strike today
Tetiana, 67-years-old, stands in her home. It is among those that were destroyed in the Russian missile attack today
A local resident walks in front of his destroyed house after Russia carried out its first missile strike on the Ukrainian capital since early February
Zelensky posted a video of windows blown out of a residential building and debris strewn across the street as firefighters used water hoses on the smoking building.
It was the first missile strike on the Ukrainian capital since early February, said Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.
'Such terror continues every day and night,' Zelensky said in a Telegram post Thursday.
'It is possible to put an end to it through global unity... Russian terrorists do not have missiles capable of bypassing Patriot and other leading world systems,' he said.
'This protection is required in Ukraine now. From Kyiv to Kharkiv, Sumy to Kherson, and Odesa to the Donetsk region. This is entirely possible if our partners demonstrate sufficient political will.'
For weeks a vital $60billion US military aid package for Ukraine has been blocked in Congress amid domestic political arguments.
Russia's defence ministry said Thursday that it had targeted Ukrainian military sites with 'long-range high-precision weapons, including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.'
'The objectives of the strike have been achieved. All targets were hit,' it said in a daily briefing.
The attack comes after a sharp escalation in Ukrainian strikes on Russian border regions and oil refineries over the last two weeks.
A woman carries her dog in her arms after a Russian missile attack on March 21, 2024 in Kyiv
A firefighter gestures while spraying water inside a building at the site of a Russian attack, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday on March 21, 2024
A Ukrainian serviceman pauses while retrieving items from an impact crater at the site of a Russian attack in Kyiv today
Debris from a Russian missile lies on the ground on March 21, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine
On Thursday, the Russian governor of the Belgorod region, on the border with Ukraine, said five people were wounded in the latest aerial bombardment.
'In the city of Belgorod, more than 30 apartments in six residential buildings were damaged as a result of an air attack by the Ukrainian armed forces,' governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
He published photos showing damaged facades and smashed windows in multi-storey apartment blocks.
Speaking last week after a wave of Ukrainian drone, rocket and artillery attacks on Russia, Putin said: 'These strikes by the enemy do not and will not go unpunished.'
On Wednesday he vowed to restore 'security' to the border areas and said that Russia had a 'plan' to delivery victory against Kyiv.
Russia's FSB security service also said Thursday that it had arrested a Russian citizen in Belgorod who was preparing 'terrorist acts against the Russian military', Russian state media reported.
It said the person was working with the 'Russian Volunteer Corps', one of the militia groups that claimed to be behind a string of attempted armed cross-border incursions last week.
And Russia's defence ministry claimed to have captured the village of Tonenke in east Ukraine, around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the city of Avdiivka, which fell to Russian forces last month.
People stand near a damaged building after a Russian missile attack on March 21, 2024 in Kyiv
Rescuers work at a site of private houses destroyed during a Russian missile attack today
Damaged cars stand in the street after a Russian missile attack on March 21, 2024 in Kyiv
City utility workers clean up the aftermath of a Russian missile attack on March 21, 2024 in Kyiv
Zelensky has repeatedly called for the West to deliver more air defence systems for Kyiv as Russian missile attacks continue to kill and injure dozens across the country.
At least five were killed in a missile strike on the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Wednesday, and 21 were killed in a strike on the Black Sea port city of Odesa last week.
In Kyiv for a meeting with Zelensky on Wednesday, the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said he could not predict when the much-needed aid from Washington would be approved.
'I'm not going to make predictions about exactly when this will get done, but we are working to get it done as soon as possible... but I cannot make a specific prediction today,' he told reporters.
