Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on April 15 again called for Kyiv's Western allies to "urgently" deliver desperately needed additional air-defense systems, weapons, and ammunition as Russian artillery and missiles continued to wreak havoc among civilians and destroy critical infrastructure.
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Four people were killed in Siversk in the eastern region of Donetsk, the head of the region's administration, Vadym Filashkin, said on April 14.
"Four men aged between 36 and 86 died as a result of the shelling," Filashkin said. "The Russians are trying to kill as many of our people as possible, and the only way to protect themselves is to evacuate to safer regions of Ukraine."
Kuleba, in a video address to the Second Black Sea Security Conference jointly co-hosted by Ukraine and Bulgaria in Sofia, said Ukraine's air defense was critical for the protection of its neighbors as well and urged faster moves to supply its forces with defensive systems such as the U.S.-made Patriot.
"Ukrainian air defense is now protecting not only Ukrainian skies from Russian air terror, it also shields neighboring Moldova, Romania, and Poland from the immediate threat of missiles and drones entering their airspace," Kuleba said.
"We urgently require additional Patriot and other modern air-defense systems, weapons, and ammunition," Kuleba said. "I take this opportunity to once again urge all our partners to take extraordinary and bold steps."
On April 14, Kuleba told Ukrainian television that negotiations were under way for the delivery of more Patriots, but voiced disappointment that the process was too slow.
"With all my due respect and gratitude to the United States of America, do you believe that the U.S. Army does not have one spare Patriot battery that it can transfer to Ukraine?" he said.
Meanwhile, on April 15, traffic was halted on the bridge that links Moscow-occupied Crimea with Russia, as the Russia-appointed chief of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, announced an air-raid alert in the city.
Social media reports said explosions caused by the work of Russian air-defense systems could be heard in the area, but the information could not be independently verified.