Zelensky urges for air defense system; Zaporizhzhia attack hurts 13

KYIV, September 17 ------ Russian forces bombarded the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with rockets overnight, wounding at least 13 people, including two children, officials said on Tuesday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky urged European leaders to make the continent safe by building an ambitious air defense umbrella.

With the war grinding on since Russia began its full-scale invasion of its smaller, pro-West neighbor in February 2022, there has been no let-up in Russian strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine and its army’s push on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

A peace settlement appears to be no closer despite months of United States-led peace efforts. US President Donald Trump’s ultimatums and deadlines for Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage with proposals to stop the fighting have passed without obvious consequences. Just over the past two weeks, Zelensky said on Telegram, Russia has launched more than 3,500 drones, more than 2,500 powerful glide bombs, and almost 200 missiles at targets inside Ukraine.

Russian glide bombs, usually dropped by jets at high altitude and far behind the front line, and drone swarms are a major challenge for Ukrainian defenses. Glide bombs aren’t very accurate, but they leave big craters, and Ukraine has no effective countermeasure against them. Russian drones also recently landed on Polish soil, prompting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to beef up the alliance’s European air defenses as tensions with Moscow mounted. “Now is the time to implement the joint protection of our European skies with a multilayered air defense system. All the technologies for this are available,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “We need investments and desire; we need strong actions and decisions from all our partners.”

In Zaporizhzhia, the Russian barrage struck more than 20 apartment buildings, starting fires, regional head Ivan Fedorov said on national television. “We hadn’t yet recovered from enemy strikes on Aug. 30. We are currently repairing those buildings, those windows, but now the enemy has added more work for our municipal workers,” he said. In response, Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones that have hit deep inside Russia, damaging installations vital for Russia’s war effort.

Source: manilatimes.net