Ukrainian President Zelensky warns of reduced missile numbers amid heavy Russian bombing campaign

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that war-torn Ukraine could run out of anti-aircraft missiles if Russia continues its intensive long-range bombing campaign.

Ukraine’s leader has issued his strongest warning yet about the worsening situation facing Ukraine’s air defenses, following weeks of Russian attacks on energy systems, towns and cities using a slew of missiles and drones.

“If they continue to attack (Ukraine) every day like they did last month, we could run out of missiles and the partners know this,” he said in an interview broadcast on Ukrainian television on Saturday.

Zelenskiy, who has for weeks called on allies to urgently deploy more air defense systems, said Ukraine currently had enough stockpiles to cope but that it was already having to make hard choices about what to protect.

He singled out the need for Patriot air defense systems and said Ukraine needed 25 of them.

America’s advanced air defense systems are critical in the event of a Russian attack using ballistic and hypersonic missiles, which can hit targets within minutes.

His comments came after Ukrainian officials said a series of new attacks had killed civilians.

Two attacks by Russian missiles and drones, one in the early hours of Saturday and the other in the afternoon, killed eight people and injured at least 10 others northeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city.

In the eastern region of Donetsk, shelling killed four people in the village of Kulashivka, including a 38-year-old woman and her 16-year-old daughter, and a 25-year-old man in the village of Krasnohorivka was killed. In southern Odessa, a missile attack killed one civilian.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power company, said the strike affected 80% of its power generation capacity and the power grid has implemented rolling blackouts to stabilize the system.

“We will agree to any choice”

In recent months, battlefield momentum has been unfavorable for Ukraine as Kyiv grapples with a slowdown in military aid from the West, especially the United States.

“The situation is difficult, but still stable. The enemy does not advance: when it takes a step forward, our enemy repels (them) and then it retreats. On the contrary, our people are moving forward Make some moves,” he said.

Zelensky said he remained confident Congress would approve a major aid package, which has been under consideration since late last year and faces staunch Republican opposition.

“I still believe we can get a positive vote in the United States Congress,” he said.

When asked by an interviewee whether it was possible for Ukraine to receive the program in the form of a loan, he said, “We will agree to any option.”

He added that some artillery shells, which he did not name, were being supplied to Ukraine under foreign initiatives and were being used in defensive operations.

“We have no artillery shells for counter-offensive operations, for defence, we have several initiatives and we are receiving weapons,” he said.

The interview was recorded next to a military fortification in the northeastern Chernihiv region, which borders Russia.

It was unclear exactly what day the interview was recorded, but Zelensky met with members of Congress from both parties in the region on Friday.