Zelenskyy renews plea for more air defense after Russia's attack on Kiev

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has renewed his plea for more air-defence systems a day after Russian strikes on Kiev killed seven people.

His latest comments came on Saturday after Russian missiles struck apartment blocks across the Ukrainian capital on Friday.

Ukraine said Russian attacks had killed four people in its southern region on Saturday.

"Ukraine needs support that saves lives: more air-defence systems, more protective capabilities and greater resolve from our partners," Zelenskyy said on social media.

Earlier, officials had said the death toll from Friday's attack on Kiev had risen to seven after an elderly woman died in hospital.

Zelenskyy said one of the victims was Nataliia Khodemnchuk, the wife of an operator at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant who died during the 1986 nuclear disaster.

"Nearly four decades later, Nataliia was killed in a new tragedy caused once again by the Kremlin," he said.

Other victims of the attack included a couple in their 70s and a 62-year-old.

Striking back

Ukraine also said Saturday it had attacked a Russian oil refinery near Moscow. The Ukrainian army said on social media it had hit a refinery in the Ryazan region near Moscow.

The strike, it said, was "part of efforts to reduce the enemy's ability to launch missile and bomb strikes".

Ukraine has regularly staged missile and drone attacks inside Russia throughout the Kremlin's invasion since 2022.

Ryazan governor Pavel Malkov said Russian air defences had shot down 25 Ukrainian drones over the region during the night.

"Falling debris caused a fire on the premises of one enterprise" but there had been no casualties, Malkov said on Telegram.

___

Source: TRT