President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has again appealed to Ukraine's Western allies and partners to urgently supply his embattled country with more air defense systems following more deadly Russian missile strikes on April 19 on Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure.
Separately, Ukraine's air force claimed that it destroyed a Russian bomber in response to the missile attacks on April 19.
"Every country that provides air defense systems to Ukraine, every leader who helps persuade our partners that air defense systems should not be stored in warehouses but deployed in real cities and communities facing terror, and everyone who supports our defense is a life saver," Zelenskiy wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
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Ukraine's air force said it destroyed a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber following the Russian attack on April 19.
"This is retaliation for the fact that the Russian strategic aircraft attacked our peaceful cities today, where civilians were killed," air force spokesman Ilya Yevlash told RFE/RL.
"This is the first time that our air force together with our partners from the [military intelligence] and other defense forces were able to shoot down a Tu-22M3 strategic aviation aircraft. And for the first time, two Kh-22 missiles fired by this aircraft were also shot down. Of course, it's a combo. Today is a rainy day in the Russian propaganda media," Yevlash said.
The claim could not be independently verified.
Russia's Defense Ministry said a Tu-22 had crashed in the southern region of Stavropol due to a technical malfunction while returning to base from a combat mission.
Stavropol regional chief Vladimir Vladimirov said one of the four members of the crew had died, while another was missing. Two other members were found alive, Vladimirov said.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that at least eight people were killed and 25 wounded in the Russian missile strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk region early on April 19.
Two people were killed in the city of Dnipro and six in the Synelnykivskiy district just south of Dnipro, where more than a dozen homes were damaged, Klymenko said.
Serhiy Lysak, the chief of the administration of the region, said on Telegram that a residential building and an infrastructure facility were also damaged in the city.
A third location in Dnipropetrovsk, Zelenskiy's hometown of Kriviy Rih, was targeted by a separate Russian attack that damaged infrastructure and wounded three people, according to Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul, who said the strike on infrastructure caused a fire.
"Russia must be held accountable for its terror, and all missiles and 'Shahed' drones must be intercepted," Zelenskiy wrote.
"The world can ensure this, and our partners possess the necessary capabilities. This has been demonstrated in the skies over the Middle East, and it should also work in Europe," Zelenskiy said in an apparent reference of a massive Iranian drone attack on Israel last week that was virtually completely repelled in a joint effort by Israeli, U.S., French, British, and Jordanian air defenses.
Ukraine has been pleading for months for more air defenses as it grapples with increasingly intense Russian air strikes on its infrastructure while its stocks of weapons and ammunition dwindle as critical U.S. aid remains stuck in Congress.
The United States has been by far the main provider of military assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022.
But a desperately needed $61 billion military aid package for Ukraine remains blocked in the U.S. House of Representatives amid opposition from hard-liners in the Republican Party who want to tie domestic policy issues such as immigration to a decision on foreign aid.
The House is expected to vote on April 20 on new military aid, including the long-delayed package for Ukraine.