Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine.
KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the leaders of seven major industrialized nations for more “modern and effective air defense systems” on Tuesday, a day after Russia launched an intense aerial assault against civilian targets in his country.
Mr. Zelensky addressed the leaders of the Group of 7 nations, who held an emergency meeting a day after Russian missile strikes killed at least 19 people across the country in retaliation for an attack on a bridge linking Russia and occupied Crimea. The leaders pledged their “undeterred and steadfast” financial and military support.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, urged members of the alliance to provide Ukraine with more weapons — including more air defense systems. Such systems were expected to be a central topic of a meeting of U.S. and allied defense ministers on Wednesday in Brussels.
“These air defense systems are making a difference because many of the incoming missiles were actually shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems provided by NATO allies,” he said.
Ukraine claimed to have shot down roughly half of more than 90 Russian missiles launched at its territory on Monday, an onslaught that was the worst aerial assault on the country in months.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said numerous Russian cruise missiles had been shot down, but several targets were still hit, including three power plants in western and central Ukraine, far from the front lines. A dozen rockets also struck the embattled southern region of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least seven people and hitting a school, medical facility and car dealership, local officials said.
Here are the latest developments:
The United States signals urgency to deploy an air defense system to Ukraine that it uses to protect the White House.
Residents of Kyiv clung to a sense of normalcy, even as life moved underground after Monday’s assault.
Monday’s bombardment raised questions about Russia’s military capacity, with analysts saying that Moscow’s use of dozens of precision missiles, of which it has a dwindling supply, would leave it fewer to use on the battlefield against advancing Ukrainian forces.
President Biden told CNN that he had “no intention” of talking to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia next month at meeting of the Group of 20 nations, but would consider it if it were to discuss the release of Brittney Griner, the W.N.B.A. star.