Logistics Warehouses Targeted... Ukraine's Air Defense Breached Again by Russian Missiles

Russian and Ukrainian attacks targeting energy facilities and supply routes have expanded to logistics warehouses, mounting civilian casualties.

Ukraine, which once again failed to intercept Russian missiles, has repeatedly appealed to its allies for air defense support.

According to Reuters and AP, citing officials on the 5th (local time), overnight Russian attacks using missiles and drones in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and other areas left at least 17 people dead and over 40 injured.

Kyiv city authorities stated that seven locations in the city were targeted, with warehouse facilities suffering concentrated attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media, "The main targets were warehouse facilities of private companies that have nothing to do with the war."

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that it struck logistics hubs and supply centers in Kyiv and its surrounding areas, asserting that these facilities were used for military purposes.

Russia's latest strike on logistics warehouses appears to be retaliation for attacks targeting Wildberries, a major Russian e-commerce company.

Since the 18th of last month, Ukraine has intensively attacked Wildberries logistics warehouses located across Russia, including in Kotovsk, Saint Petersburg, and Perm.

With at least 20 warehouses hit so far, warehouse operational capacity is reported to have decreased by about 10 percent.

The Ukrainian side claims that these warehouses are being used for military purposes.

On this day as well, a Wildberries warehouse in the Tula region was attacked again and caught fire.

According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia unleashed 24 ballistic missiles, 4 Zircon missiles, and 115 jet drones on Kyiv and other regions that day.

The Ukrainian military failed to shoot down a single missile fired by Russia, once again exposing vulnerabilities in its air defense network.

Amid growing demand for Patriot systems in the United States and the Gulf region following the outbreak of the war in Iran in late February, Ukraine has been suffering from a shortage of air defense resources.

President Zelenskyy appealed for support from allies, saying, "If we had ballistic missile interception systems, we could have saved the lives of the people who died today."

During a NATO summit meeting with President Zelenskyy last month, U.S. President Donald Trump promised to grant a Patriot production license, but follow-up discussions have been slow to gain momentum.

Regarding the provision of the Patriot production license, President Trump stated on the 28th of last month, "We are discussing it, but handing over such technology is not an easy thing to do," adding, "We have not made a decision yet."

Citing multiple sources, Reuters reported that discussions regarding Ukraine's production of Patriot missiles are still underway despite President Trump's ambiguous remarks.

The report added that options under review include producing Patriot components in Ukraine for final assembly in Germany, incorporating Ukraine into an existing U.S.-European joint Patriot program, and enabling Ukraine to produce a lower-cost version of the Patriot.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.