Air strikes on Ukraine: ‘We need more air defense systems,’ says Defense advisor Yuriy Sak

Air strikes on Ukraine: ‘We need more air defense systems,’ says Defense advisor Yuriy Sak

begin tonight in Ukraine where people are coming to terms with the horrors of Russia’s largest air strike in months Moscow fired dozens of missiles at multiple cities across the country today killing more than 30 people Ukraine’s military says that its air defenses managed to shoot down most of the missiles but not all of them bringing tragic consequences for the children of ke what you’re seeing is a Russian missile the explosion came from Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital and this is the aftermath doctors nurses volunteers and Emergency Services searched for victims a terrifying ordeal for survivors why children for some reason we always thought that amadid was protected we were simply 100% sure that they would not hit here and it turned out well it turned out the way it turned out we managed to get most patients out to safety except for those who were most ill we stayed with them during the strikes and for the aftermath patients were forced to evacuate the hospital after it lost water oxygen and electricity ke’s mayor said the assault was one of the worst since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine over two years ago genocide of population in Ukraine is right now the whole world see how Russian missiles and chemic drones killed Ukrainian citizens President Vladimir zansi said more than 40 missiles targeted five Ukrainian cities The Barrage apartment buildings and public infrastructure Ukraine says it intercepted 30 missiles Russia has denied targeting the hospital saying it was hit by fragments of a Ukrainian air defense missile speaking in Poland where he was signing a security deal zinski dismissed moscow’s denial you’re already seeing reports that the Ukrainian air defense is to blame and not calculated strike but I’m grateful to all the ukrainians who’ve started posting videos where you can see specifically not a part of this or that missile but a direct missile strike that injured and killed many people in Ukraine today zalinski also vowed retaliation the UN Security Council said it will meet to discuss the attacks they’re also likely to feature highly on the agenda at a NATO Summit in Washington on Tuesday the Ukrainian president is expected to attend and make another plea for more support our Ukraine correspondent Nick Connelly he was at that damaged Children’s Hospital earlier he sent us this update well Brent it’s basically been half a day since these attacks and you can see behind me they are still trying to drill through the concrete through the walls of this unit that has collapsed behind me as a result of that attack trying to get to people who have believed to still be there to have been Sheltering in a Cellar potentially underneath this building so far no voices no contact with the people who are missing but this work is going on could still go deep into the night and into tomorrow this is a vast site this is Ukraine’s Central Children’s Hospital for all the most difficult cases the sickest children behind me on the right there you might be able to see some of the Emergency Services Crews who are just exhausted it is incredibly warm summer’s day here people have been working out in the sun for hours generator fumes everywhere but there’s no power and to give you a sense of quite how big TOS was just on the other side here I have a much bigger building that was less impacted but where all the windows flew out and you have basically people from the local community who have turned up to basically try and Salvage what can be salvaged of the medical equipment throughout the debris and some somehow do something constructive on a day that seems just frankly unbelievable in a place here in Central Kia where people thought that by the standards of Ukraine and War time they were safe that was our very young Nick Connelly there reporting onside of that hospital that was hit today in that air strike I want to go now to Yuri sck he is the adviser to Ukraine’s minister of strategic Industries Mr Sak we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us I’d like to start by just getting your thoughts on this latest barrage of missile attacks across your country good evening Brenton thank you for having me um of course we’ve uh witnessed today uh another example of what a terrorist state is capable of a terrorist state that has been trying to break the will of the Ukrainian people for more than two years now um at the moment Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure is destroyed this uh intense fighting on the front line but that is not enough for the terrorist State that’s why they are hitting children’s hospitals they’re hitting maternity WS they’re hitting residential buildings and you know in the evening today all the ambassadors and consuls of from different countries have come to the site of this Children’s Hospital just to see with their own eyes the results of Russian terrorism so of course we will be continuing to ask our partners to support us militarily to send us more air defense missiles to send us more air defense systems um and of course we will continue to build up our own defense industry BAS so that we are capable of protecting our cities but um it’s more than two and a half years and we’re still seeing these massive missile strikes Mr sack people outside of your country will be looking at this and and asking how were the Russians able to inflict so much damage particularly in Kei keev we assume is the best protected City in Ukraine well this was a combined missile attack that Russians have used different types of missile ballistic missiles cruise missiles uh they’ve used a Hypersonic missile so and of course uh Russians you know they use time they they learn and they have received probably some data about the um air defense systems and they’ tried to break through and you know we have been able to intercept and shoot down the vast majority of the missiles that were launched but some made it through unfortunately and resulted in uh destroying their hospital and other places if the lesson from this simply that your military needs more air defense systems is that the lesson or do you need better air defense systems I think the primary lessons is uh that we need more air defense systems and hopefully we will get them and you know we look forward to the NATO Summit and all the countries who are members of the NATO alliance have seen what happened today and we hope they would be more determined to provide more air defense systems and air defense interceptors to Ukraine are you hoping for anything tangible to come out of this there’s going to be emergency session of the UN Security Council tomorrow we understand this will also I’m sure be a topic at the NATO conference in Washington do you think something tangible will come out of these meetings well we are confident that all the three nations of the world at the UN they will condemn this terrorist attack um this is a genocidal war against independent people and uh of course you know uh we will continue to advocate for more support for Ukraine on all International multilateral diplomacy Arenas Ukraine I understand has received additional um Patriots f16s are also on the way what more does your military need to better protect itself well f16s when they will arrive and uh we hope that this will happen soon of course they will complement our air defense systems um then uh if we receive more air defense systems such as Patriots or n on R then we of course will be able to protect more of our cities and uh you know we will be able to save lives of our children of our innocent people so uh everything is you know on our wish list we are talking to our partners on a daily basis and we are of course not just sitting idly we are also trying to uh build up our own defense industry so that we can produce some of these means that can help us protect ourselves better in the future ourselves your President Vladimir zalinski has vowed retaliation do we know what that’s going to look like well such matters are left to the uh discretion of our general staff uh you know we have been U we are a Civilized Nation so whatever we do we never will for sure what I can say is that we will never strive back at their hospitals or their civilian areas you know we we are a Civilized Nation that’s why we respond just uh striking their military objects and uh destroying their uh Army and um I would like to stress that in the wake of this horrible attack that happened today uh we hope that our International Partners will reconsider uh their decision as to the permission for Ukraine to strike Russia inside Russian territory because the only efficient way to actually stop this from happening in the future is to make sure that these planes the planes that take that carry these missiles that they are not even allowed to take off uh for now we don’t have that permission and as a result our cities are uh at the risk of such attacks as the one that we have seen today Yuri sack adviser to Ukraine’s minister of strategic Industries Mr sack we certainly appreciate you taking the time to talk with us on what has to be a very difficult day thank you thank you

Russia fired dozens of missiles at multiple cities across Ukraine killing more than 30 people in its largest air strike in months. Ukraine’s military says its air defences managed to shoot down most of the missiles, but not all of them.

The daytime bombardment during rush hour, and a missile strike hitting a children’s medical center in Kyiv, have compounded anger among world leaders.

00:00 Russia’s largest attack on Ukraine in months
03:25 Nick Connolly in Kyiv
04:45 Yuriy Sak, Adviser to Ukraine’s Minister of Strategic Industries

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