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on september 3, poltava, the capital of ukraine's poltava oblast, experienced a "terrible day" when a local military academy was attacked by a russian missile, killing at least 51 people and injuring 271.

according to local media reports, poltava is about 120 kilometers north of the russian-ukrainian border and about 230 kilometers east of the russian-ukrainian front in the donbas region. since the outbreak of the russian-ukrainian war, poltava has been one of russia's frequent targets.

regarding the attack on the 3rd, the russian military stated that two "iskander-m" missiles launched by the russian army that day hit a ukrainian military training center in poltava, causing casualties among more than 300 ukrainian armed personnel, including foreign military instructors.

the "iskander-m" missile is a russian short-range missile with a strong ability to break through interception systems.

ukrainian media reported that the attack happened at a military communications academy, where many students were studying and ran to nearby air-raid shelters immediately after hearing the air-raid alarm, but they were too late, resulting in serious casualties.

zelensky confirmed in a video speech that night that the attack had killed at least 51 people and injured 271. others were trapped under the rubble of damaged buildings.

local officials said tuesday (3rd) was a "horrible day" for poltava.

the ukrainian government and military believe that the main reason why the attack caused such heavy losses was ukraine’s insufficient air defense capabilities and inadequate air defense systems.

ukrainian foreign minister kuleba said that russia will launch similar attacks more frequently, so ukraine urgently needs western assistance for more advanced air defense systems.

kuleba said, "the only way is to have the patriot air defense system or the astra air defense system." both the patriot system and the astra system are air defense systems that can intercept ballistic missiles. the patriot was developed by the united states, while the astra was developed by france and italy. since the gulf war in 1991, the patriot has been frequently used, so it is much more famous than the astra.

ukraine called on the west to provide more patriots, but the west was hesitant. first, they were worried about provoking russia, and second, patriots were in short supply.

after the war entered the attrition stage, russia's strategy was to rely on air superiority, including missile and drone attacks, hoping to consume ukraine. therefore, when the west provided ukraine with fighter jets and air defense systems, it would test russia's response and then gradually break through the restrictions.

in addition, because of its good performance in actual combat, the patriot is very popular in the arms market. some analysts say that few countries now have "idle" patriot systems.

after difficult coordination, the united states and its western allies "freed up" two patriot air defense systems to be delivered to ukraine, one provided by the united states and the other jointly provided by germany and the netherlands. recently, romania also stated that it would transfer a patriot air defense system to ukraine.

however, zelensky said ukraine needs at least seven patriot air defense systems to respond to russian air strikes, but this goal may be difficult to achieve.

text丨qian kejin, international commentator of yangcheng evening news