Germany launches urgent appeal to bolster Ukraine's starved air defences

In the latest strike , a Russian missile attack killed at least 13 people and damaged buildings in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Wednesday, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make another plea for weapons. The German initiative for more support "is aimed at activating and motivating a large number of countries to deliver something in the short term," a German defence ministry spokesperson told a briefing.

Germany has appealed to the European Union and NATO member states to bolster Ukraine's air defences as quickly as possible, officials said on Wednesday, as Russian missiles pounded Ukrainian cities and its president called for support. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock have approached the EU, NATO and third party countries in a new initiative that will also be discussed at a Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers' meeting this week.

Ukraine is facing a shortage of ammunition, with vital funding from the U.S. blocked by Republicans in Congress

for months and the EU failing to deliver munitions on time. In the

latest strike , a Russian missile attack killed at least 13 people and damaged buildings in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Wednesday, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make another plea for weapons.

The German initiative for more support "is aimed at activating and motivating a large number of countries to deliver something in the short term," a German defence ministry spokesperson told a briefing. "Because we are actually seeing a change in the threat situation in Ukraine. Our Ukrainian partners are reporting this to us. Russia is increasingly using industrially produced glide bombs that can be fired from a great distance from the Ukrainian border."

There are already quite a number of partners and countries that have indicated that they are interested in joining the initiative, the spokesperson added. Germany is Ukraine's second-biggest donor of military aid after the United States and most recently pledged a U.S.-made Patriot air defence system and air defence missiles to Ukraine.

More than two years into its full-scale invasion

, Russia has staged massive airstrikes on power stations and substations in recent weeks, prompting Kyiv to issue desperate appeals for supplies of high-end air defences. "This would not have happened if Ukraine had received sufficient air defence equipment and if the world's determination to counter Russian terror had been sufficient," Zelenskiy said about the attack on Chernihiv.

A German foreign ministry spokesperson said the focus of the initiative was achieving immediate weapons deliveries. "We need air defence systems now, Ukraine needs them now. And there are also processes underway within NATO and among our partners to take another look at the stocks," the spokesperson said. (Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

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