Zelenskyy Urges Trump for Missiles as Russia Arms Banks

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress for urgent deliveries of Patriot PAC-3 missiles and air defense ammunition. Zelenskyy warned that U.S. stocks are being depleted by a concurrent conflict in Iran, leaving Ukraine vulnerable to intensifying Russian ballistic missile attacks. In addition to the request, Zelenskyy announced the purchase of 20 Gripen fighter jets from Sweden for 2.5 billion euros and warned of planned counter-strikes against Russian oil facilities to disrupt war financing.

Russia has responded to increasing Ukrainian drone raids by approving a draft bill to integrate the financial sector into its air defenses. The legislation authorizes the Bank of Russia, Sberbank, and other institutions to deploy armed personnel and electronic jamming systems to destroy unmanned vehicles. This follows a Ukrainian strike on a professional college in Luhansk that killed 21 students, as well as attacks on Moscow and oil infrastructure in Volgograd and Yaroslavl.

The security situation escalated as Russia warned diplomats to leave Kyiv ahead of systematic strikes, a move Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha dismissed as "shameless blackmail". Meanwhile, GCHQ head Anne Keast-Butler reported that Vladimir Putin is losing ground on the battlefield, with nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers killed since the conflict began. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called for an unconditional ceasefire to prevent the escalating aerial warfare from spiraling out of control.