Video: Volker Urges NATO to Adopt Ukraine's Experience in Countering Drones
Kurt Volker believes that NATO should strengthen its cooperation with Ukraine in the area of countering drones and missiles. In his view, the alliance should draw on Ukraine’s experience in cost-effective drone countermeasures and establish an integrated air situational awareness picture.
“I would like NATO to begin cooperating with Ukraine on creating an integrated air situation picture and on establishing a no-fly zone around NATO airspace together with Ukraine to eliminate the problem of drones, missiles, and other objects that penetrate Alliance territory. And this is one way to support Ukraine,” Volker noted during a special meeting of the Black Sea Forum Security Council members in Kyiv.
He clarified that this involves closing the airspace around Alliance territory within a certain distance. “We must support Ukraine’s efforts to close the airspace around NATO territory, possibly within a 150-kilometer radius,” the ambassador emphasized.
He also stressed that NATO countries should adopt Ukraine’s experience in countering air threats. “We must learn from the Ukrainians how to shoot down missiles and drones in a cost-effective manner—something NATO countries have not yet undertaken to do,” Volker added.
He also identified three key elements of Ukraine’s strategy that, in his view, the West should strengthen: strikes against Russian finances, pressure on the military economy, and the attrition of Russian forces. “We must do everything possible to strike at the Kremlin’s finances. After all, Russia primarily derives its revenue from the sale of oil and gas. We must deprive it of this source of revenue… Russians are feeling the consequences of the war; they see them in the form of fires and smoke, and lines for fuel. This overall impact on the Russian economy will put pressure on Putin domestically,” the ambassador emphasized.
Volker stressed that the West must intensify these efforts, particularly through secondary sanctions: “We must target the Kremlin’s finances and pass Senator Lindsey Graham’s bill, and special attention should be paid to secondary sanctions against financial institutions that process payments to Russia.”
In Zaporizhzhia, an infrastructure facility was damaged as a result of a Russian drone strike. A fire broke out at the site of the attack, and there are reports of one casualty.
On September 15, the Ukrainian military eliminated approximately 1,400 Russian occupiers over the past 24 hours. These new enemy losses have updated the overall casualty figures for Russian forces.
Earlier, Russia attacked Izyum with KAB bombs; among the casualties was a two-month-old infant.
On September 10, in Kyiv’s Svyatoshynsky district, a drone crashed in an open area in the woods near a shopping center. According to preliminary reports, there was no fire and no casualties.
In the Solomyanskyi district of Kyiv, an enemy drone struck the roof of a four-story business center. Emergency services were dispatched to the scene to investigate the circumstances and address the aftermath of the incident.
