President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the leaders of seven major industrialised nations for more “modern and effective air defence systems” on Tuesday, a day after Russia launched an intense aerial assault against civilian targets in his country.

Additional defence systems are necessary to counter Russian missiles and drones, particularly those supplied by Iran, Zelensky told the leaders of the G7 nations, who held an emergency meeting a day after Russian missile strikes killed at least 19 people across the country.

After the meeting, the leaders pledged “undeterred and steadfast” financial and military support for Ukraine, and emphasised “severe consequences” for Russia if it were to use chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

The strikes across Ukraine on Monday knocked out waterworks and power stations, plunging cities temporarily into darkness.

But the strikes, in retaliation for an attack on a bridge linking Russia and occupied Crimea, did not appear to seriously damage Ukraine’s ability to wage war, analysts said.

On Tuesday, Ukraine said that it had shot down numerous Russian cruise missiles, a sign that its air defences were still effective against what analysts say is Moscow’s declining stockpile of precision weapons.

Many Ukrainians again sought shelter underground on Tuesday morning after the country’s emergency ministry warned of “a high probability of rocket attacks” throughout the day.

By the afternoon, the intensity of strikes did not appear to be as severe as on Monday, although several targets were hit, including three power plants in western and central Ukraine, far from the front lines.

A dozen rockets also struck the embattled southern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least five people and hitting a school, medical facility and car dealership, local officials said.

Nato said it was closely monitoring Russia’s nuclear forces following a string of Russian battlefield defeats in Ukraine and that the allies were also boosting security around key infrastructure after recent attacks on Baltic Sea gas pipelines.

“When Ukraine receives a sufficient quantity of modern and effective air defence systems, the key element of Russia’s terror, rocket strikes, will cease to work,” Zelensky told G7 leaders at a virtual meeting where he again ruled out peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine on Tuesday received the first of four IRIS-Tair defence systems Germany promised to supply, a German defence ministry source said.

New York Times News Service and Reuters