Ukraine says it ‘ran out of missiles’ to stop Russian strike ruining power station

A lack of air defense missiles prevented Ukraine from thwarting a Russian missile attack last week that destroyed the biggest power plant in the region around the capital Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy’s comments, which follow repeated warnings from his government to its allies about scarce air defences, reflect the dire situation Ukraine finds itself in as Russia scales up strikes on its energy system.

“There were 11 missiles flying. We destroyed the first seven, and four (remaining) destroyed Trypillia. Why? Because there were zero missiles. We ran out of missiles to defend Trypillia,” he said in the interview with PBS.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the account. Zelenskyy has earlier warned that Ukraine has already had to make tough choices about what to protect and said his country could run out of defensive missiles entirely if Russian attacks continued apace.

Destroyed in the 11 March strike, Trypilska thermal power plant was the biggest energy facility near Kyiv and was built to have a capacity of 1,800 megawatts, more than the pre-war needs of Ukraine’s biggest city. Other stations and imports have filled the gap for now but residents have been urged to save power.

Russia has stepped up combined missile and drone strikes targeting Ukraine’s grid system since mid-March. It is the second concerted Russian attack on the energy system since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than two years ago and has proven much more devastating than the first one.

In recent attacks, Ukraine lost about 7 gigawatt of power generating capacity, with major thermal power plants and transmitting capabilities significantly damaged.

Moscow says the strikes are aimed at degrading Ukraine’s ability to fight and are in retaliation for recent attacks inside Russia.

Western allies have been reluctant to send additional air defences to Ukraine, which says it needs 25 Patriot systems to cover its territory properly. Germany has pledged to deliver another system following urgent calls from Kyiv.

China diplomacy

Zelenskyy thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday (16 April) for his diplomatic efforts in Beijing to resolve Kyiv’s 25-month-old war with Russia and said China could play a role in securing peace.

Ukraine has deployed considerable effort to secure the backing of China, which has close ties with Russia, for a peace summit due to take place in Switzerland in June. Russia is not invited to the gathering and has dismissed any such meeting as meaningless without Moscow’s participation.

Scholz spent more than three hours on Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said he asked him “to exert pressure on Russia so that (President Vladimir) Putin finally calls off his insane campaign, withdraws his troops and ends this terrible war”.

But Xi appeared to dismiss the meeting in Switzerland, saying efforts towards a peaceful resolution should be recognised by both sides and include equal participation by all parties.

“I would like to specially thank Olaf, the Chancellor of Germany, for his leadership and appropriate international communication,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

“For the signals we have heard from Beijing. China can indeed help restore a just peace for Ukraine and stability in international relations.”

Zelenskyy said the meeting in Switzerland “offers a real chance for all of us to ensure that the UN Charter and its goals and principles truly come into effect.”

Chinese representatives have attended at least one of the preparatory meetings for the Swiss gathering.

A senior Chinese envoy, Li Hui, special representative for Eurasian affairs, met senior officials in both Moscow and Kyiv. But while in Moscow, he said it was impossible to discuss a Ukraine settlement without Moscow’s participation.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)

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