Zelenskyy again calls for stronger air defense after deadly Kyiv attack

(Patria) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday reiterated his call for more air defense systems, a day after Russian attacks on Kyiv killed seven people, AFP reported.

His latest comments came after Russian missiles hit residential buildings across the Ukrainian capital on Friday.

The Russian invasion has been ongoing for almost four years, and diplomatic efforts to end the war have failed, with fears growing for the country's energy security ahead of its fourth winter of war.

Ukraine said on Saturday that four people were killed in Russian attacks in its southern region.

"Ukraine needs life-saving support. More air defense systems, more protective capabilities, and greater determination from our partners," Zelenskyy said on social media.

Earlier, officials said the death toll from Friday's attack on Kyiv rose to seven after an elderly woman died in hospital.

Zelenskyy said one of the victims was Nataliia Khodemnchuk, the wife of a Chernobyl nuclear power plant operator who died during the 1986 nuclear disaster.

"Almost four decades later, Nataliia was killed in a new tragedy, again caused by the Kremlin," he said.

Among the victims of the attack were a couple in their seventies and a sixty-two-year-old man.
Ukraine also said on Saturday that it had attacked a Russian oil refinery near Moscow.

The Ukrainian military said on social media that it had hit a refinery in the Ryazan region near Moscow. The attack, it said, was "part of efforts to reduce the enemy's ability to launch missile and bomb attacks".

Ukraine has regularly carried out missile and drone attacks inside Russia during the Kremlin's invasion since 2022. Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said Russian air defenses shot down 25 Ukrainian drones over the region overnight.

"Falling debris caused a fire on the premises of one enterprise," but there were no casualties, Malkov said on Telegram.