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Zelenskyy hails 100% interception of Patriot systems amid Russian barrages on Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that using the US-supplied Patriot anti-missile systems ensured his country’s forces had a 100 percent interception rate against Russia's long-range air strikes.
“When Patriots in the hands of Ukrainians ensure one hundred percent downing of any Russian missiles, terror is losing,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
He added: “With our [military] success [against Russia], our pressure, our Patriots we must and will continue to respond to all manifestations of Russia's evil. And we will destroy this evil.”
Zelenskyy’s comments come after Russia bombarded Kyiv and other Ukrainian targets overnight and during the day using both missiles and drones, the latest in Moscow’s series of aerial attacks against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s chief of staff Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that Russian forces fired 11 ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv in the morning.
The Russian defense ministry said it launched a multiple strike by air-launched long-range precision weapons against Ukrainian military airfields, claiming to have destroyed all the targeted facilities.
The Russian attacks during the day followed the overnight bombardment with drones and cruise missiles. Kyiv’s military said Ukrainian air defenses downed 40 Russian targets.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter: “Russia’s drone and missile attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities cannot be seen as usual, no matter how frequent they grow.”
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