The Prime Minister of Slovakia confirmed that his country had sent its air defense system to Ukraine.
The S-300 is a Soviet-era long-range surface-to-air missile system that can shoot down cruise missiles and aircraft and has a range of up to 90 miles.
One of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems is in the arsenal of three NATO countries: Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Greece.
—Eduard Heger (@eduardheger) April 8, 2022
On Friday, the Slovakian prime minister wrote on Facebook that donating the system did not mean that Slovakia was involved in the conflict in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy urged Western allies to send planes, tanks, and defense systems to Ukraine in a speech to Congress by video last month.
Zelenskyy told Congress that Russia had turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people.
You know what kind of defense systems we need.
NATO countries are increasing their support of Ukraine by sending more heavy-duty weaponry.
The Czech Republic was the first NATO country to send tanks to Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the AP on Thursday that individual NATO countries were planning to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
NATO has refused to send weapons or troops to non-member Ukraine, but individual countries can choose to do so.
Reports about the death of at least 300 civilians in Bucha and a rocket attack on a train station in Kramatorsk that killed at least 50 people on Friday have led to the move.
Zelenskyy warned that the predicted fighting in eastern Ukraine could lead to the biggest war in centuries.
Zelenskyy told the German newspaper that there would be intense fighting in the coming days.
It could be a big war like the world has not seen in hundreds of years, he said.
The Ukrainian president said they would defend their country until the end.
The chilling forecast is similar to what Dmytro Kuleba told NATO members.
Kuleba said that the battle for Donbas will remind you of the Second World War.
He used the warning to call for more heavy weaponry from the Western allies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces are regrouping for a new eastern offensive after failing to capture Kyiv.
President Joe Biden said on Friday that the US was supporting Slovakia's decision to ship the S-300 missile system to Ukraine and was sending the Eastern European country a US-made Patriot missile-defense system as a replacement.
Biden said that Zelenskyy had personally raised the issue of the S-300 air defense system with him.
Biden accused the Russian military of committing "horrific acts of brutality" in a statement.
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