Russian takes over sky—Ukrainian minister

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has revealed how Russian is now in control of Ukraine’s sky, making it difficult for the Ukrainian air force to target the hostile military convoy ready to enter Kyiv.

“We are using our air forces to destroy columns headed towards our cities,” he said in a TV interview with CNN’s Christie Amanpour.

When asked what further help Ukraine needs from the US and NATO, Kuleba replied “air force and anti-missile defense, and weapons.”

“The problem is Russia dominates in the sky. Our pilots are fighting fiercely against them, but we also have losses. So the Russians use their fighting jets and bombers to attack our cities and we need to counter this threat. This are the two most urgent requests that we lodged with our partners,” he said.

“We are fighting in the air, but physically Russia has more planes to deploy to Ukraine than we have. So that’s why we put such an emphasis on air defense and air force, and also missile defense,” he told Amanpour, adding “we need better protection from the sky.”

Kuleba said he cannot speak specifically about whether Ukraine’s air force is also hitting the 40-mile Russian convoy around Kyiv.

A miles-long column of Russian men and materiel have been marking time a little outside of the Ukrainian capital city since Monday.

Some of the troops and their air assets have been bombing installations, including military and intelligence infrastructure in and around Kyiv.

Civilian facilities have been allegedly targeted, too, though the Russian authorities have insisted they are after military facilities.