Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to strengthen air defense systems in the cities of Dnipro and Odesa following recent Russian attacks on them.

According to Qatar News Agency, in a video address, Zelenskyy said that Dnipro would receive additional radar systems, electronic jamming equipment, and personnel reinforcements, noting that similar measures are also being implemented for Odesa. He pointed out that interception rates for missiles and drones are already improving, but stressed the need to increase these rates further, especially as repeated and large-scale Russian attacks aim to overwhelm and exhaust Ukraine's air defense systems.

Dnipro, the largest city in southeastern Ukraine and a key industrial hub, has in recent days been subjected to successive waves of missile and drone attacks. Meanwhile, the area surrounding the Black Sea port of Odesa has become an almost daily target of Russian attack drones.

Ukraine has been engaged in a defensive war against the Russian invasion for more than four years, during which it has gradually replaced its older Soviet-era air defense systems with modern Western equipment.