Dear Ukrainians!
Today, the Russians carried out an absolutely vile strike on Sumy – right in a residential area. And they don’t even bother coming up with a reason for these strikes anymore, or even disguising them. Four aerial bombs. Tragically, a life was lost – one of the bombs hit a residential building and killed one person. Another bomb hit a school – an ordinary school, with children there at that very moment. The building was heavily damaged, but the children and teachers were in the shelter – and, fortunately, thanks to that, no one at the school was injured.
Kyiv was hit again overnight with ballistic missiles and drones. And some were intercepted. It is important that the ballistic missiles were intercepted as well. More than a hundred drones have also been launched today, just since this morning. As of 6 p.m., 29 of them were jet-powered, and 18 of those were shot down. Most of the regular “shaheds” were also downed.
We are preparing new talks, including on air defense and further support for Ukraine, that will take place this week. I want to thank all our partners who are truly delivering on our agreements and supplying air defense interceptors. Just recently, a package of missiles for NASAMS arrived in Ukraine – thank you. A very good package. We are talking with all our partners to make sure we have the necessary missiles for Patriots as well. Belgium has also made a decision today regarding F-16s. We will receive three more aircraft this year, and this will, in particular, further strengthen our air defense: combat aircraft are currently used to intercept “shaheds.”
Today, I also thank the European Commission – the European Union – for preparing a decision on another tranche of financial support. Last week, we received €3.3 billion for weapons, and in the coming days we expect some good financial news from Brussels – specifically, budget support – another tranche. Thank you. For now, these are part of the figures we previously agreed on.
Today, I spoke with the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The bank is doing a lot of work with us – with Ukraine – supporting our energy sector and the protection of critical infrastructure. We discussed the challenges ahead of winter, our needs, and what we can strengthen in our relations to ensure better protection for our people. Another area of our joint work is supporting our exports and our producers, including farmers and agricultural producers. We agreed to expand this area.
Today, our military briefed me on our long-range capabilities – on the priorities for the near term and the operations we are preparing. All of Ukraine’s key long-range objectives are being carried out, and Russia’s oil industry continues to feel the impact of Ukraine.
Every week, we work closely with the developers and manufacturers of interceptors and the necessary components – everything we need to counter Russia’s jet-powered capability – their “shahed” attacks. Ukrainian interceptors are already being used in combat. Their effectiveness is still not sufficient, but the interception rate must increase every week. And it will. We have set a task for October – specific production targets. This is a strategic task, and at the level of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and every individual manufacturer, there is a clear framework for what must be done.
I want to thank everyone who works for Ukraine! I thank everyone who defends Ukraine and protects Ukrainians, our cities, our villages, our country!
Glory to Ukraine!