Ukraine calls on Spain to speed up delivery of tanks and air defense
Photo: Oleksandr Balanutsa, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine (mil.gov.ua)
Ukraine needs to accelerate the delivery of air defense systems and tanks. Russia is preparing for new large-scale shelling, according to the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Balanutsa.
During the meeting with Spanish Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine Ricardo Lopez-Aranda Jagu, Balanutsa called on Madrid to speed up the delivery of tanks and air defense systems.
“Spain's aid is a significant enhancement of Ukraine's ability to repel Russian attacks. If possible, we need to accelerate the delivery of air defense systems, including Hawk. The enemy is not stopping large-scale shelling and is preparing for new terrorist attacks, so we must ensure that the surface-to-air missile systems are in the hands of our military as soon as possible,” the Deputy Minister says.
Balanutsa also thanked the Spanish government for the support already provided, which will exceed 1 billion euros by the end of 2024, invited partners to participate in the second International Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv, and invited Spain to join the program to restore Ukrainian military hospitals.
Russian massive shelling of Ukraine
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been regularly resorting to massive shelling of Ukrainian territory. In particular, since the beginning of this year, Russia has already carried out 9 large-scale attacks on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine.
Among other things, the Russians strike Ukraine with Shahed drones almost every night. For example, on the night of September 24, Russians launched:
- 1 Iskander-M ballistic missile;
- 2 Kh-59/69 guided missiles;
- 1 missile, the type of which is currently being determined;
- 81 attack drones.
Ukrainian Air Defense Forces destroyed 66 Russian drones.
