Zelensky praises air defence and thanks Germany

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised his air defence troops in a video address on the country's Day of Anti-Aircraft Missile Troops, a professional holiday that has been observed for years among the armed forces.

"First of all, I congratulate our anti-aircraft warriors - the warriors of the anti-aircraft missile troops of the Ukrainian Air Force, who are celebrating their holiday today," President Zelensky said in his video message broadcast Monday evening in Kiev.

Since the beginning of the war, more than 180 Russian planes, more than 130 helicopters, more than 1,000 cruise missiles, as well as over 1,600 drones of various types have been shot down, Zelensky said.

"All this means thousands and thousands of lives saved by you, hundreds of critical infrastructure facilities that you have protected," he told the troops operating the country's air defences.

Zelensky also said that in a phone call on Monday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he had thanked him for helping in Ukraine's air defence "in a very powerful way."

"The brilliant German IRIS-T systems have proved to be very effective in protecting our skies," Zelensky said.

"We also have very effective American Patriots, which were given to us by Germany. Ukraine is grateful for them, as well as for the rest of the vital assistance!"

Zelensky reiterated that the country needs much more help from the West to protect itself.

"Unfortunately, our country does not have enough high-quality anti-aircraft systems to protect our entire territory and destroy all enemy targets," he said.

And Moscow is exploiting this weakness - on Monday Russia hit residential buildings and a secret service building in the north-eastern city of Sumy using a drone, he said.

Zelensky repeated his goal of making Ukraine the base for a European missile defense shield against Russian attacks.

"It's absolutely necessary and absolutely possible," he said.

"Russia will try to take a bite out of Europe only when it sees any kind of security uncertainty. When everything is certain and obvious, Russian tyranny does not dare to violate security," he said.

Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian invasion for more than 16 months. The West is supporting the country with financial aid in the billions and with heavy weapons and ammunition. Currently, the Ukrainian military is pushing a counteroffensive to liberate its Russian-occupied territories in the south and east.