Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday (6/3) underlined his demand to impose a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace and his demand for fighter jets for his military, saying eight Russian missiles had hit the town of Vinnytsia, in southwest of Kyiv, destroying the city’s airport.
“I was just informed of the missile attack on Vinnytsia. Eight rockets… The airport was completely destroyed,” he said.
Several cities and air bases in Ukraine have been bombed, fired upon or attacked with ballistic missiles since Russia’s 11-day invasion.
But Vinnytsia is in western central Ukraine, far from the Russian and Belarusian borders, in an area where attacks like this are rare.
Zelenskyy took the opportunity to ask the West to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine to prevent more Russian attacks.
“We repeat every day: close the sky over Ukraine. Close to all Russian missiles, to Russian warplanes, to all their terrorists,” he said.
“Otherwise, if you don’t give us at least a plane so we can protect ourselves, there’s only one thing to conclude: you want us to be killed slowly.”
So far NATO has ruled out imposing a no-fly zone policy that would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine, fearing the move would drag the West into war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Russia would consider a third-party declaration closing off Ukrainian airspace as a hostile act. [ah/em/lt]
