By New Delhi: Making a desperate appeal for military support, Ukraine has said it needs “air defence systems today, not tomorrow” from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as it faced a barrage of Russian strikes, including one on a children’s hospital in Kyiv.
The appeal comes on the eve of NATO’s 32 member countries meeting this week in Washington for a summit which will have bolstering military and financial support for Kyiv high on the agenda.
“Our expectation [from NATO] is very concrete. What we absolutely need now is to be able to protect our people. We are waiting for strong decisions regarding air defence [systems] – very concrete, very real and what we need now, not for tomorrow or in the future,” said Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian President’s office Monday to journalists in a press briefing.
“The events of today [8 July] will strengthen the feelings of [NATO] leaders. It is necessary to have strong decisions. It is necessary not to give [Vladimir V.] Putin even one percent chance of the feeling that he can win this war.”
The chief of staff for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s comments come after a wave of missiles struck the cities of Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and few others in broad daylight on Monday. According to Ukraine, missiles struck Okhmatdyt children’s hospital – one of the largest hospitals in the country, where children receive treatment for serious conditions including cancer.
Yermak confirmed that at least 20 people have died in the attacks on Kyiv, while over a 100 people are injured. According to media reports, at least 11 were confirmed to have died in the strikes in Kryvyi Rih, three people were confirmed to have been killed in Pokrovsk and one dead in Dnipro.
President Zelenskyy said that at least 40 missiles were launched at Ukraine. Kyiv claims that Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were used as a part of the strike.
The Russian Ministry of Defence, however, denied that it attacked the Okhmatdyt hospital in a statement.
“The allegations made by Kiev officials about a deliberate Russian missile strike on civilian targets are absolutely untrue. Numerous photo and video reports from Kiev, which have been made public, make it clear that damage was done by a falling Ukrainian air defence missile launched from a missile system deployed within the city limits,” said the Russian defence ministry, as reported by the Russian state news agency TASS.
The ministry added that it carried out a precise strike on Ukrainian defence industry sites and air bases in response to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian energy facilities in recent weeks.
Yermak told the assembled journalists that Russia’s claims of a falling Ukrainian missile hitting the hospital as false and “totally not true.” “Witnesses have shared videos of the strikes. You can see the direct hit from the ballistic missiles striking the hospital,” he said.
The strikes also came a day before the leaders of NATO will come together to celebrate 75 years of the military alliances in Washington from 9 – 11 July. It also occurred on the day that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow for a two-day state visit to Russia.
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‘We do not need mediators’
The Ukrainian President’s chief of staff also made it clear that what Kyiv does not need are parties to mediate an end to the war. His comments come after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited both Kyiv and Moscow last week in surprise visits on a “mediating mission.”
“Orbán did not tell us of his plan to travel to Moscow [after his visit to Kyiv]. We do not need a mediator… We need influence and pressure from strong countries, from the unity of responsible countries,” explained Yermak.
He clarified, however, he was speaking “generally” and not specifically in the case of Orbán. Yermak pointed out that in the past mediation efforts, especially by countries such as Germany and France have failed.
Orbán has been the only European Union member to obstruct aid and support to Ukraine. He is considered to be one of the last EU leaders to support Putin and has in the past vetoed decisions, including a release of EUR 6.6 billion tied to the supply of weapons to Ukraine, supported by the other members of the regional organisation.
In December 2023, the Hungarian Prime Minister had walked out of a European Council meeting, to ensure that the other members could unanimously approve the opening of EU accession talks with Ukraine.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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