The Ukrainian city of Mariupol is looking into purchasing the Iron Dome missile defence system from Israel in order to protect the city’s airport.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that the city's Deputy Mayor Sergei Zakharov said in an interview with local press that reopening the skies as well as modern infrastructure to protect the airport and surrounding skies are two of the main points that are needed in order to reopen the airport.

Mariupol is the largest city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that has seen incessant fighting with Russian troops since 2014 in a war that has killed some 14,000 people and displaced millions more. The city’s airport, which is near the border with Russia, has been closed since the fighting broke out.

The Iron Dome has been used during two military operations against terror groups in the Hamas-run coastal enclave and during the rounds of violence along the Gaza border in recent years.