Zelenskiy denounces Russian drone attacks 'terror'

West Australian

2 days ago

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of increasingly terrorising his country's civilians, reporting that at least 1800 drones were launched at Ukraine in the past week.
Russian forces also dropped more than 1200 glide bombs on Ukraine this week and launched 83 missiles, the president said on Telegram on Sunday.
"The Russians are increasing the terror against cities and municipalities, to intimidate our people even further," Zelenskiy wrote.
The Ukrainian leader meanwhile praised the country's air defence.
Specially developed interceptor drones shot down hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed combat drones launched at Ukraine this week, he said.
Zelenskiy said he recently held a number of meetings with allies to further develop these defensive drones.
Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for more than three years, in large parts thanks to foreign weapons.
Russia recently significantly ramped up overnight air strikes on Ukraine and is pummelling it from the air almost every day.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is set to meet US President Donald Trump this week after Trump announced plans to sell members of the military alliance weaponry that it can then pass on to Ukraine.
NATO in a statement said Rutte will be in Washington DC on Monday and Tuesday and would meet with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as well as Congress.
The visit comes as Trump last week teased that he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday.
Rubio said on Friday that some of the US-made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are deployed with European NATO countries.
Those weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the US, he said.
"It's a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a (US) factory and get it there," Rubio told reporters last week during visit to Malaysia.
French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu in an interview published on Sunday in La Tribune Dimanche said that European officials have been making the case to the US administration to bolster air defence capabilities with any coming packages.
He added that France is in a "capacity hole" and will have to wait until next year before being able to provide Ukraine new ground-air missiles.
Trump is also facing calls from Republicans and Democrats as well as European allies to support legislation in the Senate that aims to cripple Russia's oil industry and target the Kremlin with US sanctions.
The legislation, in part, calls for a 500 per cent tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports.
It would have an enormous effect on China and India, which account for about 70 per cent of Russia's energy trade.
The White House had expressed some reservations about the legislation.
Trump made clear he wants full authority over the waiver process to lift the sanctions, tariffs or other penalties without having to cede control to Congress.
with AP