Russian forces carried out a series of missile strikes against multiple Ukrainian cities Monday, smashing civilian targets.
Video / AP
Vladimir Putin has suffered a humiliating blow after Ukrainian forces shot down four attack helicopters in just 18 minutes, Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has claimed.
"From 08.40 to 08.58 on October 12, anti-aircraft missile units of the air force destroyed at least four enemy attack helicopters (probably Ka-52s), which were providing fire support to the ground occupation forces in the southern direction," the air force said in its Telegram channel.
According to preliminary reports, one of the downed choppers crashed in an unspecified part of southern Ukraine that had been recently reclaimed by Kyiv's forces from the Russians, while the other three landed somewhere behind the front line.
The air force also revealed that Ukrainian forces fired on two more Russian helicopters, so it's possible the number of downed aircraft will increase, the New York Post reports.
Ukraine's Ministry of Defence trolled the Russian military by tweeting: "Productive morning, Ukrainian-style. Today, in just 18 minutes, service members of [Ukraine's army] shot down four Russian helicopters that were spoiling beautiful autumn skies in the south of Ukraine.
"No place for Alligators here. The local climate is hostile towards them."
Productive morning, Ukrainian style. Today, in just 18 minutes, service members of #UAarmy shot down 4 russian helicopters that were spoiling beautiful autumn skies in the south of Ukraine. No place for Alligators here. The local climate is hostile towards them. pic.twitter.com/KjT9U3GnPN
The Ka-52 - nicknamed "Alligator" - is a two-seat, all-weather attack helicopter which was first introduced in Russia in the late 1990s.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has suffered fresh humiliation. Photo / AP
According to the Ukrainian military's estimates, which have not been independently verified, since the start of the war on February 24, Kyiv's forces have destroyed around 235 enemy helicopters and 268 aeroplanes.
Meanwhile, Russian forces have continued to conduct massive missile strikes across Ukraine.
The Institute for the Study of War reported that Russian forces fired nearly 30 Kh-101 and Kh-55 cruise missiles from Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers.
Key infrastructure has been damaged in Lviv, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhia oblasts.
Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been in the crosshairs.
The Kyiv Independent reported about 30 per cent of Ukraine's energy infrastructure had been damaged by Russia since October 10.
It is the "first time from the beginning of the war" that Russia has "dramatically targeted" energy infrastructure, Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko told CNN.
Ukraine has had some success in defending the blitz. Ukraine's air defence reportedly destroyed 21 cruise missiles and 11 unmanned aerial vehicles in recent days.
But Russian forces continue to attack Ukrainian infrastructure with Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.
Ukraine to receive new air defences
International backers of Ukraine vowed this week to deliver new air defences "as fast as we can", as Kyiv pressed them to bolster protection against Russia's missile blitz.
A US-led group of some 50 countries held talks at NATO headquarters in Brussels with a focus on air defences after Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a barrage across Ukraine following a blast at a bridge to the annexed Crimea peninsula.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said just three words when asked what he hoped for from the meeting: "Air defence systems."
Western allies have scrambled to work out how to supply more advanced systems to Ukraine as diplomats admit they have precious few to spare.
"The systems will be provided, as fast as we can physically get them there," United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said after the meeting, without giving details on any new pledges.
"We're going to provide systems that we have available... We're also going to try to provide additional munitions to the existing systems that the Ukrainian forces are using." A first Iris-T medium-range system arrived in Ukraine after Germany decided to ship it before even giving it to its own troops.
The United States has also said it is looking to expedite the delivery of its Nasams anti-missile and anti-drone system to Kyiv and the first batch of two is expected in the coming weeks.
Deliveries of a further six units could take far longer as they still have to be manufactured and US sources said Washington is eyeing the possibility of trying to get Cold War-era Hawk systems to Ukraine in the meantime.
"There's other systems out there throughout the world that are available," top US general Mark Milley said.
"The task will be to bring those together, get them deployed."
'Pivotal moment'
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky had called on G7 leaders to help establish an "air shield" over his country, more than seven months into the war against Moscow.
US defence secretary Austin said that the resolve of Ukraine's allies to support Kyiv had been "heightened by the deliberate cruelty of Russia's new barrage against Ukraine's cities".
"Those assaults on targets with no military purpose again revealed the malice of Putin's war of choice," he said.
Nato defence ministers are pushing for ways to bolster their overall weapon stockpiles as the war in Ukraine has depleted their shelves.
Nato members have supplied weaponry worth billions of dollars to help fight Russia's more than seven-month invasion of Ukraine, and have vowed to keep supplies flowing as Kyiv pushes to recapture occupied territories.
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said: "Allies have provided support to Ukraine by reducing Nato stocks, ammunition, or weapons. This has been the right thing to do, but of course, we need to address how to refill those stocks."
"I expect that the ministers will agree to review our guidelines for stocks and also to engage more with industry."
Stoltenberg said the meeting in Brussels comes at a "pivotal moment" as Putin has followed up battlefield losses by annexing seized territory and issuing veiled nuclear threats.
Western powers say they have seen no change in Moscow's nuclear posture that would suggest it is getting ready to launch a strike. They have warned Moscow against deploying any small, tactical atomic bomb in Ukraine.
"There would be a sharp response - almost certainly drawing a physical response from many allies, and potentially from Nato itself," a senior Nato official said.
