US military aid for Ukraine to include 'secretly acquired' Soviet air defence systems

Today, March 22, is the 28th day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United States military aid package announced by President Joe Biden earlier this month will include "secretly acquired" Soviet air defence systems, according to a report by sources.

Over the years, the US has bought these systems clandestinely to study Russian technology in its military hardware, the paper reported.

Russia has conducted its invasion of Ukraine mainly with airpower, bombarding cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol from the skies. Western war analysts such as this site say Russia has found it difficult to conduct ground attacks in the face of stiff resistance from Ukrainian defence forces, and its troops are bogged down at many places.

Ukraine, which inherited a robust weapons industry from the Soviet Union, has its own air defence systems, but its Western allies believe it needs more. What Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded though is that NATO must enforce a no-fly zone over his country to prevent the Russian attacks from the sky.

On Sunday, the Russian defence ministry said it had used its Kinzhal hypersonic missile for the first time to destroy a Ukrainian fuel depot in Kostiantynivka near the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv.

The Kinzhal, which was unveiled by President Vladimir Putin in 2017 as an "invincible" weapon, travels at 6000 km per hour, about five times the speed of sound, and can hit targets up to 2,000 km away.

Russia has two other hypersonic missiles, namely the Zirkon and Avangad, which are said to be faster and go farther than the Kinzhal, which means dagger in Russian.

The Kinzhal can be fitted on a MiG-3, and this was how it was most likely used in Ukraine, according to Western media reports.

Zelensky says direct talks with Putin must to find an end to war, any compromise will be approved by Ukrainian people in a referendum

In an interview with Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his call for direct talks between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin to find a way to end the war through negotiations.

He said Russia's ultimatums to give up Ukrainian cities would not work, as people living in those cities would continue to resist Russian forces.