Ukraine boosts air defences as Russia fires ‘kamikaze’ drones at Odesa region

Kyiv said it had received advanced US-made Patriot air defence systems as it continued preparations for a counter-offensive against Moscow’s invasion force and Russian explosive drones hit a civil infrastructure facility in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine.

Amid repeated Ukrainian calls for swifter deliveries of arms and ammunition from allies, Russian officials warned South Korea against sending weapons to Kyiv, and suggested that Moscow could respond by arming North Korea.

“Today our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defence systems have arrived in Ukraine,” Ukrainian defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Twitter on Wednesday. “Our air defenders have mastered them as fast as they could. And our partners have kept their word,” he added in thanks to the US, Germany and the Netherlands, which had pledged to deliver elements of Patriot batteries to Kyiv’s military.

The Patriots will be the most powerful system in Ukraine’s air defence armoury as it gears up for a counter-offensive against Russian troops amid concerns that Moscow’s superior air power could negate the impact of tanks and other armoured vehicles that Western states are now sending to Kyiv.

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Ukraine’s military said it shot down 10 of 12 Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones that Russia fired at the Odesa region in the early hours of Wednesday, but that an unnamed civil infrastructure site in the area was struck and set alight.

After South Korea previously ruled out weapons deliveries to Ukraine, its president Yoon Suk Yeol said ahead of a visit to the US that his country could change its position if Russian troops committed atrocities – something Kyiv and Western allies say they have already done numerous times in places including Mariupol and Bucha. “If there is a situation the international community cannot condone, such as any large-scale attack on civilians, massacre or serious violation of the laws of war, it might be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support,” Mr Yoon told Reuters.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “any weapons supplies would imply a certain involvement in this conflict”, and criticised South Korea’s stance on the war. “Both in terms of sanctions and other things … Seoul has taken quite an unfriendly position in this story. And this is a continuation. Naturally attempts will be made to drag an increasing number of countries directly into this conflict,” he added.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev described South Korea as “new ones…who want to help our enemies” despite “recently insisting strongly that they completely rule out the possibility of supplying deadly weapons to Kyiv”.

“I wonder what residents of this country will say when they see the latest types of Russian weapons [in the hands of] their nearest neighbours – our partners from North Korea?” added Mr Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council.

Without referring to South Korea, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak lambasted procrastination by states and corporations in their response to a Russian invasion that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions since last February.

“Is full-scale war not bloody enough for world leaders to make bold decisions fast?” he asked on Twitter. “How many more Mariupols should be buried under rubble for Ukraine to get long-range missiles and aircraft? How many more Buchas should Russia exterminate for international companies to stop working with Russia?”

Moscow and Kyiv continued to accuse each other of jeopardising a deal to allow Ukraine to ship grain from Black Sea ports that Russia’s navy blockaded for several months last year.

Ukraine also faces disruption of its agricultural exports to EU states Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, where local farmers complain of falling sales and prices for their own produce.