President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to another night attack by the russian federation using ballistic missiles, emphasizing the need to adopt the 21st EU sanctions package against russia, as well as the importance of agreements with partners on European anti-ballistic missile defense, reports UNN.
Details
"This night, the russians launched 135 drones and 10 missiles of various types at our cities and communities, and most of them are ballistic missiles. Due to the strikes in the Kharkiv region, seven people were injured, including a child. Ordinary residential buildings, a gas station, and railway infrastructure were damaged. In the Chernihiv region, three people were injured. The russians damaged a residential building and power grid facilities, leaving thousands of families without electricity. Repair work is currently underway to restore power to people as quickly as possible. An apartment building in Zaporizhzhia was damaged," Zelenskyy stated on social media.
He also noted that "the russians struck Kyiv with ballistic missiles. In the capital, 16 objects were damaged, including an ordinary school and an enterprise. They also struck critical infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, and Odesa regions."
There must be more pressure on russia. We cannot waste time, and this week we should adopt the 21st EU sanctions package. Every day of delay in sanctions decisions means additional time for russia to prepare for sanctions. All components – chips, microcircuits, dual-use goods – everything that russia uses to prolong the war and strike at people must be stopped.
The President also stated:
And our agreements with partners on European anti-ballistic missile defense are something that can truly add security for our people. We must move together – every company and every country must be true defenders of life. There are enough joint capabilities, and together we can build truly reliable protection for Ukraine and all of Europe. Thank you to everyone who helps.
Zelenskyy expects FREYJA to intercept ballistic missiles within 12 months13.07.26, 20:13
Reminder
On July 13, the joint declaration on the creation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition was signed by, in addition to Ukraine, the leaders of nine other European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Ukrainian defense company Fire Point, which developed the FP-7.x interceptor missile, will be involved in the development of the project named FREYJA. European partners will be represented by: Thales, HENSOLDT, Diehl Defence, Saab, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Weibel, Leonardo, MBDA, Eurosam, Safran, and Destinus. They will provide the necessary components for building a full-fledged air defense system, which will be integrated with the Ukrainian missile.
The pan-European anti-ballistic missile shield FREYJA was immediately conceived as one that would unite European partners. As President Zelenskyy noted, Ukraine is capable of creating such a system independently, but it would take years, because in addition to the missile, FREYJA requires the integration of a whole range of components.
The Ukrainian missile FP-7.x, as previously reported by the co-founder and chief designer of Fire Point, has already passed tests and now needs to be integrated with other system components.
As Fire Point chief designer Denys Shtilerman explained, the key difference of the FREYJA project is its independence from external control. According to him, modern Western air defense systems often operate in a closed architecture format, where the supplier country or manufacturer essentially retains control over critical elements of the system. It is expected that the project's architecture will be implemented in such a way that new partner countries can easily join it.