Zelenskiy adviser calls for big increase in air defence systems for Ukraine

Firefighters tackle a blaze after Russian missile strikes on Odesa, Ukraine, last week. Russia is attempting to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defences. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Ukraine cannot protect all of its main cities from Russian missile threats without a significant increase in the provision of air defence systems, according to a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Mykhailo Podolyak said the strikes on Odesa over the past week had shown clearly that the Russian strategy was to bombard Ukrainian cities, with the aim of overwhelming air defence systems.