Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy anticipates Russia will intensify its offensive in the northeast and made a plea to allies to send more air defense and fighter jets to even the field.
Zelenskyy said that Kyiv has only a quarter of the air defenses it needs to hold the front line since Russia’s surprise offensive in the Kharkiv region last week.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops have managed to stop enemy forces that have moved 5 to 10 kilometers (3 to 6 miles) inside Ukraine territory along the northeastern border, but he cautioned that those troops could be the “first wave” in a wider Russian offensive.
“I won’t say it’s a great success [for Russia], but we have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory,” he said, speaking from Kyiv on Friday in his first interview with foreign media since the offensive began.
Zelenskyy said the situation in the Kharkiv region has been “controlled” but “not stabilized.”
“Today, we have about 25% of what we need to defend Ukraine. I’m talking about air defense,” he said.
Ukraine needs 120 to 130 F-16 fighter jets or other advanced aircraft to achieve air parity with Russia, Zelenskyy told.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that it had taken a village near Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region.
“Units of the northern troop group liberated the village of Starytsya in the Kharkiv region and continued to advance deep into the enemy’s defenses,” it said.
Nearly 10,000 people have fled their homes in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region since the Russian ground attack began on May 10, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday.
Only 100 people are left in the city of Vovchansk, where “heavy fighting” is taking place, he said.
Ukrainian authorities have evacuated around 8,000 civilians from the war-ravaged town of Vovchansk, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border.
