Ukraine’s Zelensky hopes to turn tide of war with Russia as US considers sending fighter jets
- Ukraine’s president talks battlefield aims as Britain’s MI6 chief says Russian forces ‘about to run out of steam’
- US Air Force general says the United States and its allies are considering providing Ukraine with fighter jets
Ukraine’s military has the potential to make gains on the battlefield and inflict major losses on Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as the United States considered providing Kyiv with fighter jets.
Zelensky after meeting senior commanders said they discussed the supply of modern weapons, and that the intensity of attacks on Russian forces had to be stepped up.
“(We) agreed that our forces have the strong potential to advance on the battlefield and inflict significant new losses on the occupiers,” Zelensky said in a late-night Thursday video address.
The Ukrainian military so far has received a dozen HIMARS systems from the US and several M270 systems from Britain – and used them to successfully target Russian ammunition and fuel depots in eastern Ukraine.
The HIMARS and M270 have a longer range, a much better precision and a faster rate of fire compared with Soviet-designed Smerch, Uragan and Tornado multiple rocket launchers used by both Russia and Ukraine.
But officials in Kyiv say the numbers are still too small to turn the tide of the war. For months, Zelensky has also pleaded for fighter jets, saying Russia’s air supremacy has been a major stumbling block in his country’s efforts to repel the invasion.