Two more jets were damaged, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced on Tuesday. The air defense also shot down eleven drones that Ukraine had used to attack Russian territory and the Crimean peninsula, the state-run Russian news agency RIA reported, citing the ministry. The Ukrainian Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, but this is not internationally recognized.
Previously, in his nightly video message broadcast in Kiev on Monday, Zelensky said that the promised F-16 fighter jets in sufficient quantity and quality, Patriot anti-aircraft systems and longer-range missiles would have a decisive influence on the course of the war. Ukraine could receive even more protection of its airspace from the aggressor Russia this month. Zelensky has been calling for months for more support from Western allies in protecting the airspace from Russian bombs, missiles and drones. The country is on the way to achieving real security, the head of state continued.
Several countries have promised Ukraine F-16 fighter jets and have also trained Ukrainian pilots on the machines. Russia sees this as a new escalation in the war. “This month can bring Ukraine more strength, especially in protecting our airspace and in providing real security for our country,” he said. The country is relying primarily on the USA as an ally. Zelenskyj had asked his country’s allies for more weapons just at the weekend after seven people were killed in a Russian air strike on the Zaporizhia region.
At a meeting with representatives of the US Congress in Kyiv, Zelensky thanked Washington for its ongoing help in the fight against Russian aggression. “It is very important to have an unshakable belief that life must defeat this Russian war and all of Putin’s hostile ambitions,” he said. This requires not only the courage of the Ukrainians, but also that of their Western partners.
Zelensky said that fundamental decisions were being discussed to inflict more losses on the occupiers in terms of logistics and equipment, as well as to destroy Moscow’s hopes of expanding the war. “For Russia, all this must end in defeat – and only then will this whole idea of a war against Ukraine be defeated,” Zelensky said.
US Republican Mike Turner said at the meeting with Zelensky that Washington supports the people of Ukraine in their fight for democracy. He indicated that possible strikes by the Ukrainian armed forces with US missiles against positions on Russian territory had also been discussed. Details were not given.
Zelensky said that the US is not only helping with weapons, but also with financial support for the country’s economy. Once again, he stressed that the country needs more help with air defense in particular. “This is extremely important because the Patriot systems help us save lives and protect infrastructure. We are counting on receiving additional deliveries of these systems in the future,” Zelensky said.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerow in Washington to discuss further military support for the country attacked by Russia. The talks will focus on bilateral cooperation in the defense sector, regional security issues and ways to strengthen the defense partnership between the United States and Ukraine, the Pentagon said.
With Western help, Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for more than two years. Russia has occupied large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24, 2022.
Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is becoming increasingly mired in positional battles. The Russian military has reportedly captured two towns in eastern Ukraine. Units of the “West” group captured the town of Stepova Novoselivka in the Kharkiv region and took up better positions, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced in its situation report. In addition, the town of Novopokrovske in the Donetsk region was captured. Kyiv has not yet officially confirmed the loss of the two settlements. The information could not be independently verified.
The Deepstate portal, which is close to the Ministry of Defense in Kiev, has partially confirmed the reports of success from Moscow. Novopokrovske has been marked as occupied there for some time. Russian troops are advancing there after the fall of Avdiivka, which the Ukrainians had converted into a fortress.
Stepova Novoselivka, near the small town of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, is still marked as under Ukrainian control by Deepstate. The Russian army has been trying for months to recapture the strategically important railway junction that was lost in the Ukrainian counteroffensive in autumn 2022.
