BAt least one person was killed in a night air raid on the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced in the online service Telegram that after explosions, the rescue services responded to emergency calls from several districts. In the Podilsky district, a body was found during extinguishing work in an apartment building. Falling debris injured several people, and fire broke out in several buildings, including an apartment building.
Kiev was attacked for the third night in a row. In a statement, the Ukrainian Air Force warned of the continued threat of Russian drone strikes.
Zelenskyj emphasizes the positive after the NATO summit
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, after some irritation at the lack of an invitation to NATO, drew a positive conclusion from the alliance summit in Vilnius. “There is a good reinforcement in weapons. These are anti-aircraft, missiles, armored vehicles and artillery,” said Zelenskyy on Wednesday evening in his daily video address about the delivery commitments of Western partners. In addition, Ukraine has now received firm security guarantees and the clear prospect of joining NATO. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of creating a nuclear threat for Russia by supplying Ukraine with modern warplanes.
Ukraine was treated by its supporters as an equal among equals, Zelenskyy emphasized in his speech recorded in the train compartment after leaving Vilnius. The security guarantees of the G-7 group of western economic powers are the basis for bilateral agreements with the strongest nations. At the same time, he appeared to be demonstratively following the advice of the British defense secretary, who had asked him to be less critical and more grateful to western governments for their arms assistance. So Selenskyj thanked all NATO countries individually. He praised Germany, for example, for promising further air defense systems that had already saved thousands of lives in the past.
Previously, the G-7 countries pledged long-term military and financial assistance to Ukraine as long as it is not yet a NATO member. The United States, Germany and the five other G7 states have promised Ukraine, among other things, modern equipment for their air and naval forces. A corresponding declaration was signed at the end of the NATO summit on Wednesday afternoon.
Moscow speaks of a return to the Cold War
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov immediately focused on the Western fighter jets and in particular the planned delivery of F16s to Ukraine. “The United States and its NATO satellites create the risk of a direct military confrontation with Russia, and this can have catastrophic consequences,” Lavrov told the Russian internet portal lenta.ru. “One cannot ignore the fact that the F-16 fighter jets that the West wants to supply to Ukraine can potentially carry nuclear weapons,” said Russia’s chief diplomat. “We will consider the very fact of the emergence of such systems in the Ukrainian armed forces as a nuclear threat from the West,” Lavrov said. At the same time, he rejected the fact that Russia was planning a nuclear strike in Ukraine.
Lavrov’s ministry accused NATO of returning “to Cold War schemes.” A statement from the Ministry of Defense on Wednesday evening said the West was concerned with protecting its people “from the rest of humanity” on the basis of the arbitrary division of the world into democracies and autocracies. In order to protect its global hegemony, the West has chosen Russia as the main target of its aggressive policies. “Skewing everything, Moscow is accused of undermining global energy and food security,” the critics said.
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