President Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned to Western allies with a request to arm Ukraine before the battle for Donbas and announced a list of necessary weapons.
He announced this on his Telegram channel, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
“Various experts said that Ukraine would not last more than a week if Russia invaded. Not only we did manage to stop the Russian army, we rejected them! But our war is far from over. This was only the first round. Putin and his army are changing their strategy. They are strengthening their troops in order to put even more pressure on Kharkiv and the entire Donbas, including Mariupol,” the statement says.
Zelenskyy noted that Russia does not intend to stop at Ukraine, as the Russian authorities openly declare that Europe is the "next logical goal" after Ukraine.
“Therefore, either the West will help Ukraine stop Putin now or Putin will continue to expand his Russian empire, while killing thousands of women and children. He has already done this in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Bucha and other cities of Ukraine,” the President said.
The head of state stressed that in order to continue heroically defending the world from Russian aggression Ukraine needs a specific list of weapons.
"I appeal to citizens of the whole world with a request to help convey to your governments, presidential administrations, leaders of your countries the real needs of Ukraine which will help stop the war," Zelenskyy said.
He stressed that Ukraine urgently needs heavy artillery, heavy armored vehicles, air defense systems and aircraft:
artillery mounts (caliber 155 mm) and ammunition;
artillery shells (caliber 152 mm) (as many as possible);
multiple launch missile systems: Grad, Uragan or American M142 HIMARS;
armored personnel carriers (infantry fighting vehicles, etc.);
tanks (T-72, American or German analogues);
air defense systems (S-300, Buk or similar modern Western air defense systems);
military aviation.
As Ukrainian News Agency reported, the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) intends to meet with the leadership of the country's eight largest arms manufacturers to discuss the possibilities of American industry to meet Ukraine's needs for weapons for the war with Russia.
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