Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Following a Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s Dnipro city, Oleksii Arestovych, an adviser to the president’s office, faced calls for his dismissal on Monday after making controversial comments. The attack killed at least 40 people. The current president of Ukraine is Volodymyr Zelensky.
On Saturday, the Russian missile rammed into a residential building that had a total of nine stories.
During a TV interview, Arestovych hinted Ukraine’s air defense system might have struck the missile before it slammed into the building.
Ukrainian officials, however, explained that the explosive used was a long-range Kh-22 Russian anti-ship missile. They added that the clues on the site of the attack suggested a direct hit and that it had not been intercepted.
Ukraine officials counter Zelensky adviser comments
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar maintained that the armed forces of Ukraine did not possess any weapon to shoot down this kind of missile.
Read Also: Ukraine Missile Strike Death Toll Mounts to 36, Moscow Denies the Attack
In another statement, the Ukrainian Air Force stated since the beginning of the conflict a total of 210 missiles of this kind had been fired by Russia, and none of them had been shot down by the country’s air defense systems.
Arestovych apologized in a post on Facebook but had already faced intense public scrutiny.
