Dnipro, Ukraine:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that NATO must decide whether it is an ally of Kyiv and urged defense ministers of NATO members to step up efforts to provide arms to the beleaguered military.
He called on Western partners to provide at least seven more air defense systems, hours after Russia launched deadly drone and missile attacks across the country.

An artillery attack in eastern Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region killed at least eight people, including two children. But Ukraine said it shot down a Russian long-range bomber that fired a missile for the first time.

“Our skies must become safe again,” Zelensky told a meeting of NATO defense ministers via video link.

“It all depends on your choice,” he told a meeting in Brussels, where their alliance faced a choice “whether we are indeed allies.”

Comparing Western efforts to protect Israel from recent Iranian airstrikes to the situation in Ukraine, Zelensky believes more can be done to help Kyiv withstand Russian bombing.

– ‘can not wait’ –

He told NATO ministers that Ukraine could not defend itself without Western support.

“It’s clear that while Russia now has air superiority and can rely on drones and rocket terror, unfortunately our ground capabilities are limited,” he said.

Earlier on Friday, NATO Chairman Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance had agreed to provide Ukraine with more weapons, including air defense systems.

“I expect a new announcement on Ukraine’s air defense capabilities to be made soon,” he added.

Ukraine faces a surge in devastating Russian attacks on its cities. Earlier this week, an attack in the city of Chernijiv killed 18 people.

Zelensky called Saturday’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the long-delayed $61 billion military aid package “critical.”

The aid has been delayed since last year due to political infighting among Republicans. But Zelensky said on Friday: “This year, we can’t wait for a decision.”

He called for at least seven more Patriots or similar air defense systems. “They can save many lives and really make a difference,” he added.

Earlier on Friday, Zelensky said he visited Ukrainian frontline troops and inspected new defense lines in the war-torn Donetsk region.

He also said Russia attacked two food export terminals at the Black Sea port of Pivdenny on Friday.

“Agricultural products destined for countries in Asia and Africa are destroyed there,” he said.

Zelensky said this was “part of Russia’s deliberate strategy to cause maximum damage to Ukraine and countries dependent on Ukrainian agricultural products.”

– Two children killed –

Overnight, a Russian missile strike in the Dnepropetrovsk region hit a residential area and started a fire in a multi-story building.

In the regional capital, Dnipro, rescue workers spent the day searching for survivors and bodies and residents used backpacks and shopping bags to drag their belongings from destroyed apartments.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on social media: “Among the victims were two children. A 14-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy.”

“In modern Europe, children must not be killed in air strikes. We must protect them with reliable air defense shields,” Kuleba said.

Ukraine’s railway operator said train facilities were hit in the attack and seven employees were injured. They added that a female staff member was killed.

Local officials announced that Russian shelling in the southern Nikolayev region and eastern Sumy region killed two people.

-“revenge”-

The Main Intelligence Service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that the Russian Tu-22M3 bomber that Kyiv said it shot down crashed while returning to its base after launching missiles into Ukraine last night.

“We avenge our cities and civilians,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Ilya Yevlash told AFP.

Russian officials said the plane crashed in the southern region of Stavropol. The pilot ejected, but at least one crew member died, they added.

The Russian Defense Ministry blamed a technical error, state news agencies reported.

Stavropol Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said two crew members had been taken to local medical centers and the search for the fourth pilot was continuing.

He added that the plane crashed in the region’s Krasnovardsky district, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the eastern edge of the annexed Crimean peninsula.

The Ukrainian intelligence service said the plane “was shot down about 300 kilometers from Ukraine. After the hit, the bomber was able to fly to the Stavropol region and crashed there.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)