Ukraine will receive its first supplies of F-16 fighter jets "very soon," but around half of its desperately needed foreign military aid is arriving late, Kyiv's defense minister said.
Rustem Umerov, 42, said in an interview in Kyiv late on Monday that Russia was deploying more manpower and equipment to the front more than 27 months after its full-scale invasion.
Kyiv's forces have managed to stabilize the new front in the northeastern Kharkiv region where Russia attacked earlier this month. But Umerov said Moscow was preparing for a new push.
"Their objective is to open a new front in the north to start using all their manpower, firing power, against us; they are continuing with their objective to destroy the nation," he said.
"We are withstanding, but of course, we need more weapons, we need more firing power, we need long-range missiles, not to allow them to enter our state."