Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after Russia’s massive strike on Kyiv, urged allies to make real decisions at the NATO summit in Ankara to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses. He wrote this on X.
According to Sybiha, it was a horrific night in Kyiv: Russia fired more than 20 ballistic missiles at the capital. At least 11 people were killed in the attack, and dozens were injured, including children.
“Protect Ukrainian children from Russian ballistic terror. No task is more urgent. This is our main message to the NATO summit this week”, the minister said.
Sybiha noted that world leaders are heading to Ankara, and he wished they could hear what families in Kyiv heard overnight: “a horrific cannonade of loud explosions one after another”.
According to the foreign minister, Russian forces struck sleeping civilians and deliberately targeted residential high-rises to maximize casualties.
In one district, an entire family was recovered from the rubble — a mother, a father and a child. Rescue operations are continuing, and the number of victims may rise.
Sybiha stressed that Putin’s message to Ankara is simple: he will keep pointing ballistic missiles at sleeping children and continue the killing as long as he can.
“What will the leaders of the Alliance respond? This is no longer the time for weak steps. They will only encourage Moscow to continue and expand terror beyond Ukraine”, the minister said.
According to Sybiha, the strongest outcome of the NATO summit in Ankara should be an increase in Ukraine’s capabilities to protect children from Russian ballistic terror.
He separately emphasized Ukraine’s need for PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems. The minister noted that these missiles were created precisely to protect people from such barbarism, and thousands of them are stored in different countries around the world for potential threats.
“But the threats in Ukraine are not potential. Russian missiles are killing people every week”, Sybiha stressed.
The minister said Ukraine is currently the only country in the world facing ballistic attacks every single week. That is why the means of protection against this terror must be in Ukraine.
“We need all air defense decisions now, not later. Because for us, time is measured in human lives”, the foreign minister emphasized.
