The Ukrainians are still fighting hard, but they could use more missiles, advanced rocket systems and artillery, Risch said in a phone interview as he completed his trip. Risch, from Idaho, said he spent about 90 minutes Sunday talking with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the country’s needs.
“On the battlefield, they've got to match what the Russians have. They know that. Everyone knows that,” Risch said. “But I think ours was much more of a discussion about how we move forward. We had a very constructive conversation.”
Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian city of Kyiv on Sunday just before Risch arrived. The Ukrainian government said the attack killed one person and wounded six others.
“Yet by Sunday afternoon, people were out, going into the parks, restaurants were full up, full traffic on the street,” Risch said. “I've been to war zones before, and I've never seen reconstruction going on while the war was still going on. The bridges that had been taken out, virtually all of them have already been repaired.”
Lithuania was hit with cyber attacks Monday, days after Moscow promised to retaliate over transit sanctions that cut off some goods from Russia's Kaliningrad region.
Lithuania's Defense Ministry said an "intensive" attack was targeting "the secure national data network, other Lithuanian public authorities and private companies."
Killnet, a Russia-affiliated hacker group, says it launched the attacks in retaliation for the restrictions imposed by Lithuania, which cited European Union sanctions. Lithuania restricted the transit of sanctioned steel and ferrous metals to Kaliningrad, cut off from Russia but sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. Russia has accused Lithuania and the EU of violating international agreements.
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