Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Saturday again called on his Western allies to provide Kiev with more air defense systems after new Russian attacks that killed five people, AFP reported.

Volodymyr ZelenskyiPhoto: Pool / Presidency of Ukraine / Zuma Press / Profimedia

On the night of Friday and Saturday, an attack on the Black Sea port city of Odesa killed three people, including a child, and destroyed a nine-story building, Ukrainian officials said.

At the same time, as a result of explosions, a 76-year-old man died in the Kharkiv region, near the border with Russia, and another person in the Kherson region, according to the regional authorities.

  • “Russia continues to attack the civilian population. We need more air defense from our partners.
  • We must strengthen Ukraine’s air defense to better protect our people from Russian terrorism. More air defense systems and more missiles for air defense systems save lives,” President Zelensky wrote on social networks, News.ro reports.

After two years of war, in recent days the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly called on his Western allies to quickly provide military aid, including ammunition, more air defense systems and fighter jets.

Defeating Russia “depends on you,” Zelenskyy told his Western allies last Sunday, whose support is vital to Kyiv but who have been reluctant in recent months to approve new budgets for the purpose.

According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, half of the western weapons promised to Kyiv are being delivered late.

For its part, Ukraine appears to have carried out its own drone strike overnight Friday that damaged an apartment building in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city. Russian city authorities reported an “incident” – a term previously used to describe Ukrainian attacks – but said there were no casualties.

  • VIDEO The moment a drone hits a block in Putin’s city. Which, in fact, was the goal of the Ukrainians in St. Petersburg

A video posted on Russian social media shows a drone falling from the sky onto a building and causing an explosion, with residents reporting broken windows and small fires caused by the drone.

According to Ukrainian media, Russian air defense shot down a drone that was targeting an oil depot less than a kilometer away.

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