Send us more air defence missiles, says MP whose home was damaged in major Russian barrage

Moscow unleashes second long-range revenge attack on Ukrainian cities within days

A Ukrainian MP whose house was damaged in a major Russian missile bombardment that targeted the country’s two largest cities has called on the West to accelerate deliveries of air defence systems and F-16 fighter jets.
Kira Rudik, leader of the liberal Holos opposition party, also warned Kyiv’s international partners to do more to crack down on a ready supply of parts used by Moscow to manufacture its arsenal of missiles and drones.
At least five people were killed and more than 120 injured on Tuesday when Russian forces unleashed their second long-range barrage within days.
The barrage involved some of Russia’s most powerful weapons, including its hypersonic Kinzhal missile, which is notoriously difficult to intercept.
Ukraine’s air force claimed to have shot down 73 of the 99 missiles launched by Moscow’s forces and all of the 35 drones that were deployed.
Ms Rudik  suffered “minor injuries” in a blast that left her Kyiv home “partially in rubble” as Moscow launched dozens of attack drones and high-velocity projectiles at the capital and north-eastern Kharkiv
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, spoke with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, by telephone to discuss UK aid amid the intensifying bombardment.
Ukraine’s air force said the attack had involved about 100 missiles, including the air-launched hypersonic Kinzhal, which are notoriously hard to intercept.
General Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said a US-donated Patriot system had set a “record” by downing all 10 of the hypersonic missiles launched at Kyiv.
“If the missiles hit their targets, the consequences would be catastrophic,” he added.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said that debris from intercepted projectiles had caused fires and caused power outages.
Two people were killed in the city and at least 49 others were wounded after a high-rise building was hit and a large warehouse caught fire, he said.
The barrage came hours after President Vladimir Putin threatened reprisals for an attack on Russia’s border city of Belgorod on Saturday which killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 100 others.
It was part of what Ukrainian and Western officials warn is an escalating aerial campaign by Moscow to force Kyiv into submission by destroying energy and heating infrastructure across the country.
Russia has ramped up its attacks on Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure in a bid to freeze the war-torn country into submission in the cold winter months.
Russia claimed Ukraine had retaliated within hours to the latest strikes by launching eight missiles at Belgorod, killing  one civilian and injuring four more. It claimed that it had downed four ballistic missiles.
“Over the previous five days, the enemy has launched at least 500 missiles and drones toward Ukraine,” President Zelensky told Mr Sunak in a phone call on Tuesday.
With Putin believed to have stockpiled enough munitions to sustain the bombardment throughout the winter, Ms Rudik urged Kyiv’s Western allies to step up supplies of air defence munitions.
“You can imagine that with the recent attacks, we are using lots of the supplies for these systems, and we need more because we foresee more attacks coming,” she told the Telegraph.
“The fighter jets that are coming will add an additional layer of protection, but we need more because Russia will be targeting them,” she added.
Her calls were echoed by Mr Zelensky, who urged “everyone around the world who values life to bolster our air shield”, while his foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba signalled “decisive” actions were needed to replenish Kyiv’s depleted air defences.
Mr Zelensky said that Russia would “answer for every life taken away”.
Ms Rudik was hurled across her home in the early hours of Tuesday having failed to reach shelter as debris from a downed rocket landed hundreds of metres from her property.
“There was the sound of an explosion then the shockwave was so strong it took the windows from their frames and threw them on the floor,” she said.
“The darkness, the fire and then the smoke made it feel like an Armageddon.”
Images shared by  Ms Rudik showed patio doors and shattered glass strewn across her living room from the impact of the nearby blast.
The MP said she was lucky to have suffered only minor cuts from the flying shrapnel.
Emergency services across the capital were dispatched to sift through the rubble for survivors and put out fires from more devastating impacts.
Massive plumes of smoke rose into the skies above the city as officials said debris from intercepted projectiles had left almost 300,000 people without power.
Air strikes were also reported in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, which has been almost constantly bombarded by Russian forces in recent days.
Regional governor Oleg Synegubov said a 91-year-old woman was killed and 44 people injured, including five children, in what he described as a “massive missile attack”.
For Kyiv the Russian missile campaign is seen as a wake-up call for its Western allies at a time when aid from the likes of the US and EU appears to be faltering.
“Our air defence warriors have been doing an incredible job for the past three days,” Mr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
“Since Dec 31, Russian monsters have already fired 170 [Iranian-made] drones and dozens of missiles of various types. The absolute majority of them targeted civilian infrastructure.”
He urged “everyone around the world who values life to bolster our air shield and hold Russia accountable for everything it has done”, in a call for more Western support.
Foreign minister Mr Kuleba went further to call for Kyiv’s international backers to “respond  decisively to another Russian terror attack”.
He urged Western governments to “accelerate the supply of additional air defence systems, combat drones of all types and long-range missiles”.
Ukraine only has a limited supply of Patriot missiles, which can cost up to $3 million (£2.4 million) each, with the US having exhausted all of its funds for any resupply.
Japan recently handed back a batch of missiles to bolster Washington’s stockpiles in a move seen as a boost for Kyiv’s hopes of securing more.
Britain also recently announced it would send 200 surface-to-air missiles to bolster Ukraine’s air defences.
Mr Zelensky also thanked Mr Sunak for donating what the Ukrainian president described as “radars and advanced anti-drone systems” when they spoke on Tuesday.
While Britain and France have donated Storm Shadow missiles, both the United States and Germany are holding out on offering similar projectiles amid concerns doing so may escalate the conflict and draw Nato into a direct confrontation with Moscow.
With Western support appearing to wane, Mr Zelensky has told the West that backing for Kyiv is an investment in the protection of the rest of Europe from Russian aggression.
“Giving us money or giving us weapons, you support yourself,” the Ukrainian president told The Economist in an interview published on Monday.
“You save your children, not ours,” he added.
Mr Zelensky also claimed that several European countries had “started to examine a possibility of attack on their territory from Russia … even those countries that were not in the USSR”.