Ukraine: President Zelenskyy calls for more military equipment from Western partners

President Zelenskyy also said that to protect the country's energy infrastructure, Ukraine might need to attack Russian energy infrastructure.

Transcript

00:00President Zelensky says Ukraine needs at least 25 Patriot air defense systems to fully defend

00:07its airspace.

00:11In his first news conference since returning from the United States, the Ukrainian president

00:16also called on Western partners to send more F-16 warplanes than those already pledged.

00:24He claimed a six-month delay in military assistance from the U.S. meant that Kyiv's forces lost

00:30the initiative on the front line.

00:33Meanwhile, Zelensky also led a moment of silence for those who died in Ukraine's war with Russia

00:40while he attended a prayer event on the day of Ukrainian statehood.

00:46The Ukrainian president spoke at the square in front of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv,

00:52where he was joined by heads of Ukrainian churches, religious organizations, various

00:58parliamentary representatives and foreign diplomats.

01:01The national holiday was first introduced in 2021 on the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's

01:28independence and on the baptism day of Kyiv Rus' Ukraine, when Christianity was first

01:34introduced to the region.