Kuleba to partners after Russia's missile strikes: 'Give us the damn Patriots'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on partners to provide Ukraine with additional Patriot air defense systems to protect against Russian missile attacks and fight front-line bombardment.

He stated this in an interview with Politico, Ukrinform reports.

"Give us the damn Patriots. […] If we had enough air defense systems, namely Patriots, we would be able to protect not only the lives of our people, but also our economy from destruction," Kuleba said.

He explained that Ukrainian troops are losing positions because Russia began to massively use upgraded aerial guided bombs, and the only way to prevent this is to shoot down the planes carrying the bombs.

He explained that these bombs are weapons "you cannot escape from" if you are the intended target. "You cannot jam it. It just falls on your head and destroys everything. […] We need air-defense systems on the frontlines," Kuleba said.

Just an hour before Kuleba sat down with Politico at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Monday, March 25, in broad, mid-morning daylight, the Ukrainian capital came under attack from Russian ballistic missiles. A couple of loud blasts rang out just moments after air raid sirens blared across the city. Kuleba was in the city's botanical gardens to make a video for an upcoming trip at the time.

As was reported earlier, several explosions rang out in Kyiv on the morning of March 25. Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said that Ukrainian air defenses had intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by Russian troops at Kyiv from temporarily occupied Crimea.

Missile debris fell in the city's Pecherskyi, Holosiivskyi and Solomianskyi districts. Part of the building of the Mykhailo Boichuk Art Academy was destroyed. Ten people were injured in the attack, including a 16-year-old girl. Two people were hospitalized.

Following the Russian strike, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine needed more air defense systems.