Ukraine pleads for weapons from west in response to Russian missile attacks

Ukraine urged western states to accelerate delivery of air defence systems and other weapons after Russia fired dozens of missiles at its cities, and Belarus stepped up military co-operation with Moscow and issued a warning to Kyiv and its allies.

At least 11 people were killed and 64 wounded when Russian cruise missiles and drones slammed into the centre of Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine in what the Kremlin made clear was retaliation for the country’s alleged role in an explosion on Saturday that damaged the only bridge linking Russia with Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

“The best response to Russian missile terror is the supply of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems to Ukraine – protect the sky over Ukraine! This will protect our cities and our people. This will protect the future of Europe,” Ukrainian defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov wrote on social media.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said he spoke to his counterparts from the United States, Britain, Canada and other western powers on Monday, and asked them to help strengthen his country’s air protection as missile strikes on its power system caused blackouts and raised fears over the impact of more such salvos during the winter months.

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“In our call today Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg condemned Russian strikes and assured he redoubles efforts to work with allies on providing Ukraine with air defence systems and equipment to tackle electricity supply challenges,” Mr Kuleba said in one of a series of tweets.

Germany – which has been criticised for allegedly dragging its feet over supplies of high-tech weapons to Kyiv – said that within days it would deliver the first of four IRIS-T SLM air defence systems that it has pledged to Ukraine.

Monday’s onslaught showed “how important it is to supply Ukraine with air defence systems quickly…Russia’s attacks with missiles and drones terrorise the civilian population in particular,” said Berlin’s defence minister Christine Lambrecht.

Russian hardliners who have been increasingly critical of the military’s performance in Ukraine hailed Monday’s attacks, including Ramzan Kadyrov, Kremlin-backed warlord and leader of the republic of Chechnya, who declared himself “one hundred per cent satisfied”.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, whose regime has been propped up by Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since huge street protests threatened his rule in 2020, announced that the two states were forming a joint military group in response to what he described as threats from Ukraine and its Nato allies.

He did not give details of the size of the group or where it would be deployed, but said it would involve “more than 1,000 people” from the Russian military – which has already used Belarus as a staging post for land and air attacks on Ukraine.

“The training in Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine of Belarusian radical militants for them to carry out sabotage, terrorist attacks and to organise a military mutiny (in Belarus) is becoming a direct threat,” said Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled his country since 1994. “Strikes on the territory of Belarus are not just being discussed in Ukraine today, but are also being planned,” he added, claiming that western states “are pushing (Kyiv) to start a war against Belarus”.

The Belarusian border is only about 130km north of Kyiv, and an attack from that direction could stretch Ukraine’s forces amid heavy fighting in eastern and southern regions of the country.

“Ukraine doesn’t pose a threat to Belarus. It’s a lie (by Lukashenko) to justify his complicity in the terror against Ukraine,” said exiled Belarusian pro-democracy leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. “He also violates our national security. I urge the Belarusian military: don’t follow criminal orders, refuse to participate in Putin’s war against our neighbours.”