‘How can you sleep when children are under bombs?’ Ukraine makes emotional plea for more military aircraft

Russia ‘has advantage’ in the skies, says foreign minister

Ukraine's foreign minister has pleaded for more allies to supply aircraft to aid the defence of the country against Russian forces.

Russia has battered Ukraine with a ground and air offensive that has killed thousands and driven more than 1 million people from their homes.

An air strike in the northern city of Chernihiv killed at least 33 people, Ukraine’s emergency agency said.

Earlier, governor of the region Viacheslav Chaus said at least nine people had been killed in an air strike that hit homes and two schools.

The European Union has pledged 70 combat aircraft to support Ukraine against the Russian assault but Mr Kuleba on Thursday appealed for more countries to pitch in to bolster Kyiv's aerial defence.

He said on Twitter: "Our aces heroically defend our skies. But Russia has advantage.

"Dear partners who still have not provided Ukraine with military aircraft: how can you sleep when Ukrainian children are under bombs in Mariupol, Kherson, Kharkiv, other cities?

"You can take this decision now. Do it!"

Flames and smoke billow from a residential building damaged by shelling in Chernihiv on Thursday (Reuters)

Ukraine Air Force Command (UAFC) said Russia was primarily conducting air strikes from three airfields: Baranavichy and Machulishi in Belarus and Shatalovo in Russia near the border with Belarus.

UAFC reports successful operations against Russian forces on its Facebook page. On Thursday it said the Ukrainian air force had destroyed three Russian planes.

US defence officials said they believed that the majority of Ukraine’s air and missile defence systems were still viable despite some 480 Russian missile strikes.

A top Russian officer of an airborne division, Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was killed in fighting earlier this week, Russia said.

Moscow said nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine insisted Russia's losses were many times higher but did not disclose its own military casualties.

Ukrainians still in the country faced another grim day on Thursday. Along with casualties in Chernihiv, military strikes on the village of Yakovlivka in Donetsk killed three people, authorities said.

In Kyiv, snow gave way to a cold, grey drizzle, as long lines formed outside the few pharmacies and bakeries that remained open.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, residents desperate to escape the bombings crowded the railroad station and squeezed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

(PA)

In the south, Russian troops appeared to roll from Kherson toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding centre to the west.

A US defence official said the Russians may want to set up a base in Mykolaiv ahead of a ground offensive against Odessa, Ukraine's largest port city, which is also home to a large naval base.

The fighting has led more than 1 million people to flee Ukraine, according to the UN, which fears refugee numbers could rise far higher.

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