Ukraine’s UN rep calls for tenfold increase in air defence aid to Ukraine amid intensifying Russian attacks

Andrii Melnyk, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has called on Western partners to increase assistance for strengthening Ukraine's air defence by at least tenfold in response to Russia's large-scale attacks. He also said that Russian propaganda had effectively acknowledged Russia's indiscriminate strikes on civilian targets in Kyiv.

Source: Melnyk at a meeting of the UN Security Council, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine

Details: Speaking at the Security Council meeting, Melnyk said that the "alarming new scale of Russia's aerial terror requires a response of an entirely different magnitude".

Quote: "We need to better protect the skies above our cities. We need to do more to protect and save civilian lives."

Details: Ukraine's envoy also called on UN member states to increase sanctions pressure on Russia and cut off the sources funding Russia's war machine.

In addition, Melnyk called for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire", as well as the release of prisoners of war and civilians under an "all-for-all" exchange formula.

He also once again urged the international community to find a mechanism to strip Russia of its permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

According to the diplomat, Ukraine's strikes on Russian military targets undermine Russia's ability to sustain the war.

He further stated that Russian propaganda had effectively acknowledged Russia's strikes on civilian infrastructure in Kyiv.

Speaking at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Melnyk referred to a statement by Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, who, according to the diplomat, admitted that Russian forces do not distinguish between military and civilian targets.

"Russian bombs and missiles have no eyes," Melnyk quoted Solovyov as saying.

According to Ukraine's envoy, the Kremlin had for years claimed that Russia strikes only military targets, but now "even its own official propaganda machine admits that Russia is indeed killing indiscriminately".

Melnyk also criticised statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry about strikes on so-called "decision-making centres", noting that one of the sites destroyed in Kyiv was the Lukianivskyi Market.

In addition, the diplomat said that, according to estimates based on open-source information, the cost of Russia's large-scale attack on Kyiv amounted to about US$360 million.

"That amount could have funded approximately 35 modern schools or 12 fully equipped hospitals," he said.

Previously: Earlier, Tammy Bruce, US Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, described the large-scale Russian strikes on Kyiv as an "inexplicable, dangerous and barbaric escalation" that is "obscene and unacceptable". She called for a ceasefire and reminded Russia of its "legal obligations", stressing that diplomacy is "the only path forward towards lasting peace".

Background: Following Russia's large-scale attack on the night of 23-24 May, Ukraine called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council and a joint session of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation and the OSCE Permanent Council.

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