After deadly attack, Selenskyj renews his demand for delivery of long-range weapons

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his call for more long-range weapons and air defenses after a missile attack killed seven people, including two children.

Ukrainian officials said 31 more people were injured in the Russian attack on the city of Vilnius near the southeastern city of Zaporizhia.

In total, at least 11 civilians were killed and 37 others injured in rocket attacks in Ukraine on Saturday, Reuters reported.

“Our cities and communities suffer from such Russian attacks every day,” Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram.

However, he added that there are “ways to overcome this crisis,” including “destroying Russian missile launch sites, launching truly long-range strikes, and increasing the number of modern air defense systems.”

He published pictures from Vilnius showing a large crater near a smoldering building and several bodies lying on the ground.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said two rockets hit the city, damaging infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not publicly commented on the attack.

On its own Telegram channel, the organization published footage of a rocket attack on a railway line allegedly located near the settlement of Ukrainka – less than ten kilometers from Vilnius – and used by Ukrainian forces to unload weapons and military equipment.

Mr Kostin also said four people were killed and seven injured in artillery attacks on three villages near the front line in the eastern Donetsk region.

Western allies have already threatened Ukraine with a range of long-range weapons – including Scalp missiles from France, Storm Shadow from the UK and ATACMS from the US – as well as US-made Patriot air defence systems.

However, the supply of weapons from the United States – by far Ukraine’s largest arms supplier – stalled in early 2024 after a bill to allocate additional military aid was held up in Congress.

The law was finally passed in April, and the following month, air defense systems and long-range missiles arrived on the front lines.

Ukraine, however, has blamed the loss of life and Russian territorial gains in the meantime on the shortage of ammunition and anti-aircraft missiles caused by the delay, while Zelensky continued to call for further support to win the war.

On Telegram, he thanked allies for their help, but said decisions on sending more weapons “must be accelerated” because “any delay in decisions in this war means loss of life.”