Fellow Ukrainians!
Work is still ongoing in Kyiv at the site of the strike on a residential building – a Russian missile strike, a residential building literally destroyed, floors from the first to the ninth. People are being searched for under the rubble, and the fate of those whose whereabouts are still unknown, but who may have been in that building, is being established. As of now, it is known that overall in Kyiv, 10 people were killed in Russia’s massive attack. 45 people were injured. Over two days of a virtually non-stop aerial attack, the Russians used more than one and a half thousand drones and 56 missiles of various types. There were hits in most of our regions: from Zakarpattia to the Kharkiv region. Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Volyn, Odesa, Poltava, and Sumy regions. Dozens of people were wounded. Unfortunately, people were also killed. My condolences to the families of all those killed by these Russian strikes.
We are carefully establishing exactly what weapons – which missiles and drones – the Russians used this time. It was a Kh-101 missile that struck a residential building in Kyiv, according to preliminary data. The missile was manufactured in the second quarter of this year. This means Russia is still importing the components, resources, and equipment necessary for missile production in circumvention of global sanctions. Stopping Russia’s sanctions evasion schemes must be a genuine priority for all our partners. We are preparing steps that can intensify our joint counteraction – sanctions must be more painful for Russia.
Today, at the Staff meeting, together with our military, the Ministers of Defense and Energy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and representatives of the special services, we also analyzed the response to this two-day attack. First, the level of our air defense and, accordingly, the interception rate is quite high. For drones, it is 93 percent. Of course, it needs to be higher, and today we discussed which measures in the regions could help achieve this. I assigned very specific tasks regarding radars and other equipment. It is important that the development of our system for countering “shaheds” and other drones continue without pause. As for missiles, the task is more difficult, especially when it comes to ballistic missile defense. Protection against ballistic missiles is a daily priority, and Ukrainian diplomats must demonstrate daily results – daily results in the relevant communication with our partners. The PURL initiative needs new steps now – at the turn of spring and summer. I am grateful to all our partners in Europe who have begun forming an anti-ballistic coalition. This is truly the strongest solution – for Europe to have its own sufficient production of air defense systems and missiles for them, specifically against ballistic threats. Europe already has the potential to counter other challenges, and it is being scaled up, but on ballistic missile defense, all of us in Europe need significantly greater cooperation – and a different pace: the pace of implementing our agreements.
One more point.
Today, we had important meetings in Ukraine. Representatives of Germany – the Head of the Federal Chancellery and the Head of German Intelligence. It was a good, productive conversation, and there are things that can definitely become results of this communication between us. We will make our format of work in Europe – the E3: Germany, France, and the UK – even more substantive. We are planning the relevant meetings. I want to thank Germany for its readiness to continue helping us protect people’s lives. We discussed how the €90 billion European support package and the advancement of our accession to the EU can strengthen Ukraine.
There was also a strong American delegation today – we are working with America at all levels: the White House, Congress, the political community, the American corporate sector, and civil society. In particular, Hudson Institute representatives were in Ukraine today – I am grateful to them for this visit. It is important to see and feel what Ukrainians are going through, what our country is going through. I am grateful for the support. America does not forget Ukraine – and it certainly remembers that this Russian war against Ukraine must be ended, and ended in a dignified way. Thank you to everyone who is helping us! Thank you to everyone who stands with us, with Ukraine, and with Ukrainians!
Glory to Ukraine!