Ukraine's military has shot down 650 Russian cruise missiles and more than 610 Iranian-made Shahed drones since Sept. 11, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of Ukraine's Air Force, said during an interview with ArmyInform.
Oleshchuk said that Ukraine's Air Force had received NASAMS, Iris-T, and Crotale air defense systems, as well as anti-aircraft self-propelled Gepards from Ukraine's Western partners and is currently waiting to receive Patriot and Aster 30 Mamba air defense missiles systems.
According to Oleshchuk, however, these systems are not enough to defend Ukraine from Russia's missile and drone attacks.
"We need more technological modern weapons that will help to quickly restore order in the sky and free it from the presence of aerial terrorists. Our allies know what Ukraine specifically needs, in particular the Air Force. These are modern multi-purpose aircraft and medium and long-range anti-aircraft missile systems." Oleschuk said.
Over the first year of the full-scale invasion, Russian troops have carried out almost 5,000 missile strikes and 3,500 air strikes against Ukraine, General Staff Deputy Chief Oleksii Hromov said on Feb. 23.
Russia also used drones to attack Ukrainian settlements nearly 1,000 times since it started its all-out war on Feb. 24 last year.
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