Ukraine's top diplomatic priority is to secure help from allies to buy and build more air defense systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday between meetings with European leaders, amid warnings from Russia that European companies producing drones and other equipment for Ukraine are "potential targets".
Russian strikes have hit a number of areas in Ukraine behind the front line in recent days, killing at least 18 people and wounding more than 100 overnight. wounded.
"Every day we need air defense missiles – every day Russia continues its strikes", Zelensky wrote in a post on his Telegram channel.
With no plans announced for further U.S.-brokered talks with Russia, Zelensky visited three European capitals within 48 hours to try to secure promises of further military and financial support. Germany and Ukraine have reached an agreement on a defense package worth 4 billion euros, and Norway has pledged 9 billion euros in aid, Ukrainian officials said.
"Italy, in particular, is showing great interest in developing joint production, especially in the field of drones – a sector in which, as we well know, Ukraine has become a leading nation in recent years," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters after meeting Zelensky in Rome.
After more than four years of fighting a large-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has acquired battle-tested skills in shooting down drones and developed revolutionary air defense technologies, but it lacks the means to increase production to levels that would allow it to take full advantage of this advantage.
Zelensky said he wanted European countries to continue to allocate funds for the mechanism that allows the United States to purchase American weapons for Ukraine, most notably Patriot air defense systems that can intercept Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.
Between November and March, Russia launched 27,000 Shahed attack drones against Ukraine, nearly 600 cruise missiles and 462 ballistic missiles, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
Zelensky also advocated for a deal to jointly produce weapons, including drones and missiles, while urging the European Union to act quickly on a promised 90 billion euro loan.
"Unforeseen consequences"
Defense ministers from about 50 countries, who meet regularly to coordinate military aid to Kiev, took part in a video conference on Wednesday, chaired by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his British counterpart John Healy. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also took part in the meeting.
Ahead of the meeting, Britain announced it would send 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year - the largest delivery yet. The officials did not specify when exactly they would be sent.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the decision of European countries to increase the production of drones for Ukraine was "a deliberate step leading to a sharp escalation of the military-political situation on the entire European continent and the gradual transformation of these countries into Ukraine's strategic rear".
The ministry warned that attacks on Russia with drones manufactured in Europe for Ukraine were fraught with "unforeseen consequences".
"Instead of strengthening the security of European countries, the actions of European leaders are increasingly drawing these countries into a war with Russia," the statement said.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow published a list of branches of Ukrainian drone factories in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as factories producing components in Germany, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Turkey and Israel.
"The European public should not only clearly understand the real reasons for the threats to its security, but also know the addresses and locations of the "Ukrainian" and "joint" enterprises producing drones and components for Ukraine on the territory of their countries," the Russian ministry said.
Former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev followed up with a more explicit threat on social media: "The statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense should be taken literally: the list of European facilities that produce drones and other equipment is a list of potential targets for the Russian armed forces. When the strikes will become a reality depends on what will follow".
Ukrainian operations to strike in depth
According to Western officials and analysts, Ukraine's military actions have gained momentum in recent weeks. Ukrainian forces, though outnumbered, have thwarted a Russian offensive in the spring, thanks in part to drones and ground robots, and their long-range attacks have hit Russian oil exports and some manufacturing.
The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), General Oleksandr Syrsky, said that last month Ukrainian troops had retaken nearly 50 square kilometers of territory from Russian forces. Also in March, Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory hit 76 targets, including 15 oil refineries, he said.
However, the war in Iran is depleting the modern air defense missiles that Ukraine needs, and Kiev's resources are running low.
"We cannot lose sight of Ukraine" amid the conflict in the Middle East, Rutte said.
Russia and Ukraine continue to trade blows
On Wednesday and Thursday night, Russia used more than 700 drones and 19 ballistic missiles against Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said, the largest attack in almost two weeks.
Russia also used a 1.5-ton FAB-1500 aerial bomb on the central part of Slavyansk in the Donetsk region before dawn on Wednesday, said the head of the military administration of the city of Slavyansk, Vadim Lyakh. The explosion destroyed a children's sports complex that was a landmark of the city, he said.
The strikes on the city of Dnipro hit two universities, damaging academic buildings, dormitories and nearby homes, said Mayor Boris Filatov. The blast wave shattered more than 1,000 windows in nearby buildings, he said, adding that there were no military targets in the area.
Ukraine continues to carry out long-range drone attacks, with the Russian Defense Ministry reporting on Wednesday that air defenses shot down 85 drones overnight.
Ukrainian drones attacked an industrial site in the city of Sterlitamak in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, located about 1,300 kilometers east of the border with Ukraine, local authorities said.
The governor of the republic of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, said in an online address on Wednesday that several drones had been shot down over Sterlitamak's "industrial zone" and that debris from the drones had fallen on one of the sites there, sparking a fire. One person was killed in the attack, he added.
Translated from English: Simeon Tomov, BTA