Ukraine urges partners at UN to boost air defense support tenfold amid escalating Russian attacks

Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Andrii Melnyk, has called on European and U.S. partners to increase air defense assistance to Ukraine tenfold.

He stated this at a UN Security Council meeting focused on the escalation of Russian attacks against Ukrainian civilians, Ukrinform's correspondent in New York reports.

"Ukraine calls on its European and American partners to multiply their air defense assistance at least tenfold. The alarming new scale of Russia's aerial terror requires a response of an entirely different magnitude. We need to better protect the skies over our cities and save civilian lives," Melnyk said.

He also urged all UN member states to take "robust unilateral measures" aimed at depriving Russia's war machine of financial resources.

"Every loophole that remains open, every sanction left unenforced, and every source of revenue left untouched enables the Kremlin to prolong its war of aggression," the diplomat said.

Melnyk once again appealed to members of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as the release of all prisoners of war and all unlawfully detained civilians under an "all for all" exchange formula.

"Just do it," Melnyk said.

According to the envoy, "the reason for Moscow's panic is clear."

"Ukraine's deep strikes against legitimate military targets are not only changing the dynamics on the battlefield. They are inevitably eroding Russia's economic ability to sustain its criminal war machine," he said.