More than 40 people have died and at least 180 have been injured in a Russian robot attack on Poltava, according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyj. The attack, according to Ukraine, was targeted at an "educational area". Russia says the attack was targeted at a military communication center.
Ukraine has been hit by the largest robot attacks from Russia during the entire war, says military expert Joakim Paasikivi.
The fact that a target in Poltava, about 35 miles southeast of the capital Kiev, was hit in this way attributes Paasikivi to a failing air defense system.
Ukraine has not received the air defense systems it has wanted and asked for. This means that cities like Poltava and other smaller towns have a significantly worse defense. And risk, as we see, of suffering greater losses. Russia simply has a greater opportunity to hit with its robots.
Paasikivi does not want to speculate on the details of the Russian attack, but says that it largely follows the already established pattern in the war.
Unfortunately, we have not seen any difference in the world's support for Ukraine. The West is generally slow, I think, with its support for Ukraine.
In Zelenskyj's social media post about the attack, the Ukrainian president again emphasizes the need for air defense for the country:
"We continue to urge all those in the world who have the power to stop this terror: Ukraine needs air defense and air defense missiles now, not something that's on the shelf. Long-range attacks that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now, not later. Every day it takes means, unfortunately, more lost lives."
