Ukraine is preparing for a counter-offensive against the Russian army. However, this will entail significant losses due to Moscow’s air superiority. Only more weapons – namely Patriot missiles – can reduce the final impact. The guarantee, in the form of a request for more weapons, was left by Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “Everyone knows that a counter-offensive without air superiority is very dangerous. The reality is that 50 [mísseis] Patriot can prevent people from dying,” he explained.
In the interview with the North American newspaper, Zelensky also admitted that Ukraine should not join NATO during the conflict. The Ukrainian president asked the alliance countries to “send a signal” about Kiev’s alleged membership and stated that the country does not want to be a member of NATO “during the war”. But assuming, if the country is not recognized as a candidate for membership “and if no signal is given in Vilnius, there is no point for Ukraine to participate” in the Alliance Summit to be held in the Lithuanian capital.
Furthermore, according to Associated Press, the fear of the Ukrainian people for security is growing. An official inspection of the shelters showed that almost a quarter are blocked or unusable. This Saturday, the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior reported that they have been inspected “more than 4800” shelters. Of these, 252 are closed and 893 are “unfit for use”. According to the ministry, 5,300 volunteers will continue to inspect bomb shelters across the country in the coming days.
Last Thursday, a woman was killed in a Russian air raid when she reportedly stood with other people at the door of a closed reception center. The Kiev region prosecutor’s office announced this Saturday that four people have been arrested as part of the investigation into the death of the 33-year-old woman. According to the same source, the prison guard who failed to lock the doors of the shelter remains in custody, while the remaining three people are under house arrest. The prosecution said the guard could be sentenced to eight years in prison for negligence leading to the death of a person.
For his part, Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko revealed that authorities in the Ukrainian capital received “more than a thousand” complaints in just one day regarding closed, vandalized or ineffective shelters.
Russia removes 600 children from border area
Also this Saturday, Russia announced the withdrawal of 600 children from the Belgorod area, next to the border with Ukraine, which has been bombed for the past two weeks. According to Viacheslav Gladkov, governor of the region, “today [sábado] 300 will be sent to spend the night in Kaluga and another 300 will go to Yaroslavl.’ .
With agencies
Source: DN
