Ukraine is aiming to build a home-grown anti-ballistic missile defence system ‘within a year’ to bolster its protection from Russian attacks and reduce reliance on waning supplies of US Patriot missiles.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was in talks with ‘several countries’ and working towards having a European defence system ready within months.
“We should have a European anti-ballistic missile defence system. We need to build our own anti-ballistic missile defence system within a year,” he said on national television yesterday, as reported by the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine has been looking to reduce its reliance on the US Patriot defence system, which tracks and engages UAVs, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles on approach – a vital part of Ukraine’s defence against the Russian onslaught.
In a recent interview with Germany’s ZDF, Zelensky said that Ukraine was facing a critical shortage of Patriot systems, warning the situation “can’t get any worse” as the Iran diverts US attention from Ukraine.
Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – but wild animals are thriving like never before
Russia detains German woman after bomb discovered in her rucksack
Unverified footage showed a woman lying down on the tarmac in a car park while armed men pointed their weapons at her – and a rucksack that was beside her. Sappers were then shown blowing up the rucksack.
The FSB claimed the German woman, who had a bomb with the equivalent of 1.5 kg of TNT, was targeting a law enforcement facility in the Stavropol region as part of a false flag operation directed by Ukraine.
The FSB said it had also detained a citizen from a country in Central Asia who thought he was acting on behalf of a “terrorist organisation” and had been due to detonate the bomb.
“The actions of the man were coordinated by employees of the Ukrainian special services under the guise of members of one of the international terrorist organisations banned in Russia,” the FSB said.
Pope Leo calls for ‘weapons to fall silent’ in Ukraine and commends ceasefire in Lebanon
Russia lost billions of dollars in oil revenue due to strikes last month
Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure led to oil revenues losses of at least $2.3 billion (around £38 million) last month, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“In March alone, Russia’s oil revenue losses from our long-range capabilities are estimated at no less than $2.3 billion in just one month,” he stated in his nightly video address.
The Ukrainian leader said he was “grateful to all our warriors for their precision” and said Ukraine would continue its attacks in April.
Firefighters battle blaze after Russian strike kills 16-year-old in Chernihiv
Russia has suffered more than 1.3 million casualties since 2022
Russia has suffered more than 1.3m military losses since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In an update by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence there had been 1,319,270 casualties as of Monday.
It also claimed to have taken out 11,884 tanks, 24,422 fighting vehicles, 40,396 artillery systems and 435 aircraft.
German woman arrested in suspected suicide bomb attack in Russia
Russia’s FSB security service has arrested a German woman that was found with a homemade bomb in her backpack.
The woman was allegedly plotting to blow up a law enforcement building in Southern Russia.
In a statement published by local media, the FSB said the woman, who was born in 1969, had been recruited by a citizen of a central Asian country who was working for Ukrainian security services.
The agency said the bomb was supposed to detonate remotely, which would have killed the woman.
She was reprotedly arrested in the city of Pyatigorsk, while her recruiter, who was born in 1997, was also arrested.
Bulgaria’s Russian-friendly ex-president to win parliamentary election
The centre-left coalition of ex-president Rumen Radev has emerged as the clear winner of Bulgaria’s parliamentary election, the country’s central electoral commission said Monday, ending half a decade of political fragmentation.
During his presidency, Radev gained a reputation as being sympathetic to Russia. He repeatedly opposed EU efforts to send military aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has often argued that supporting Ukraine risks drawing Bulgaria into the war and has favored reopening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict.
Radev resigned from the mostly ceremonial presidency in January, a few months before the end of his second term, to launch a bid to lead the government in the more powerful role as prime minister.
His supporters are divided between those hoping he will put an end to the country’s oligarchic corruption and those lining up behind his Euroskeptic and Russia-friendly views.
Ukraine says strike on Russia’s Tuapse refinery started fire
Ukraine’s military said on Monday that an overnight strike on Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery hit reservoir tank storage and started a fire.
The military has also hit an oil depot in Russian-occupied Crimea, the general staff said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
One dead after Ukrainian drone attack on Russian port
A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse has killed one person and sparked a large fire, Russian officials said.
“Tuapse was subjected to another massive drone attack,” Veniamin Kondratiev, governor of the Krasnodar region, said on messaging app Telegram. “A fire occurred at the seaport.”
Kondratiev said one man was killed at the port and another injured, while debris from drones damaged several city buildings.
Source: independent.co.uk