Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky pleads with the West for fighter jets
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Vladimir Putin’s forces are increasingly seeking to break through Ukrainian defences, Kyiv warned on Friday as it stepped up pleas to the West for swift delivery of tanks and other heavy weaponry.
The Ukrainian military said fierce battles were under way in the east of the country.
The attacks came a day after Russian missiles and drones killed at least 11 people in what appeared to be a response to promises by the US,
Germany and other allies to join Britain in supplying tanks to Ukraine.
In his overnight address, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said: “This evil, this Russian aggression, can and should be stopped only with adequate weapons.”
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 47 of 59 Russian missiles yesterday.
Russia also launched 37 air strikes, 17 of them using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. All drones were downed, it said.
Eleven people were killed and 11 wounded in the strikes, which spanned multiple regions and also damaged dozens of buildings, a State Emergency Service spokesperson said.
Local officials today reported heavy shelling in the north, north-east and east of Ukraine, scene of some of the heaviest combat since Russia’s invasion on February 24 last year.
“Fierce fighting continues along the frontlines. Our defenders are firmly holding their positions and inflicting losses to the enemy,” said Oleh Synehubov, governor of the north-eastern region of Kharkiv.
Ukrainian troops are also reported to be suffering heavy casualties.
Britain said in a regular intelligence update that Russian forces had probably conducted probing attacks near Orikhiv in the south-east and in Vuhledar in the east, but were unlikely to have achieved “substantive advances”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that the US could end the conflict quickly if it wanted but was instead “pumping weapons into Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, a senior French MP and ally of Emmanuel Macron said France must “leave open the door” to sending fighter jets to Ukraine.
Thomas Gassilloud, chairman of the National Assembly’s National Defence and Armed Forces Committee, added that “things are moving fast”.
After the pledges on tanks, Mr Zelensky is now pleading with the West for fighter jets and longer-range missiles.
Asked by the Standard if France could supply aircraft, Mr Gassilloud said: “Regarding deliveries to Ukraine, we must study requests on a case-by-case basis and leave all the doors open.”
Dutch ministers have also signalled that they may send US-built F-16 jets.
