Ukraine’s allies announced the delivery of new air defences and recommitted to providing it robust, enduring military assistance at a meeting at Nato headquarters on Wednesday, saying Russian missile strikes two days ago only further united them. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, sitting next to his Ukrainian counterpart, opened the gathering of more than 50 countries by condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly missile attacks against “targets with no military purpose” across Ukraine.
“The whole world has just seen yet again the malice and cruelty of Putin’s war of choice, rooted in aggression and waged with deep contempt for the rules of war,” Austin told the gathering, sitting next to Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov. “But Russia’s latest assaults have only deepened the determination of the Ukrainian people and further united countries of goodwill from every region on Earth.”
The Russian air attacks killed 19 people in Ukraine, wounded more than 100 and knocked out power supplies across the country, adding new urgency to Kyiv’s longstanding calls for air defences to protect its cities. Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg called Russia’s missile attacks a sign of weakness, after weeks of Ukrainian gains that have set off rare criticism inside Russia of its war effort. “The reality is that they’re not able to make progress on the battlefield. Russia is actually losing on the battlefield,” Stoltenberg said.
“Ukraine has the momentum and continues to make significant gains, while Russia is increasingly resorting to horrific and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure.”
Germany announced that the first of four IRIS-T air defence systems had reached Ukraine. German defence minister Christine Lambrecht called it a “very important support for Ukraine in the fight against missile attacks”.
A senior US defence official said Germany’s IRIS-T system was another sign of the commitment to provide air defences to Ukraine, pre dating Putin’s latest missile strikes on the country.
