In connection with the continuous shelling of the city of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called on his Western allies to provide his country with more extensive weapons and permission to strike deep into Russian territory, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"Russian warplanes must be destroyed wherever they are, by all available effective means," Zelensky said in his daily video address last night.
The Ukrainian president stressed the need to prevent airstrikes like the recent one on the city of Kharkiv, in which, according to him, one person was killed and 12 were injured.
The recent lifting of the ban by Western countries on strikes with the delivered weapons on Russian territory near the border has already yielded results, Zelensky said.
"Part of Russia's terrorist capacity" has been destroyed, he said, adding that Ukrainians need better protection. "We need suitable weapons for the Ukrainians,", Zelensky also said.
Negotiations on this issue are ongoing, he noted, adding that he expects further progress in the coming weeks.
Zelensky also sees progress in his country's efforts to join the EU and has said accession talks will start next week. "This is a truly historic week," he said.
Zelensky said the start of the talks was made possible thanks to the people who took up arms in defense of Ukraine on February 24, when Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than two years ago.