Fellow Ukrainians!
Right now in Kharkiv and Dnipro, in our other cities and communities, work is underway to deal with the aftermath of Russian strikes. In Kyiv today, the Russian army damaged yet another hospital – an absolutely civilian facility. In Dnipro, among the hits was a civilian enterprise, a food producer – ordinary sunflower oil. It turns out that this is also a target for Russia. In Kharkiv, the Russians struck directly at heating and energy supplies for people, at ordinary life – ballistic missiles against the energy sector. In Kherson, repair crews and power engineers were working to restore electricity supply after Russian strikes. And all of this shows only one thing: Russia does not take seriously the diplomatic efforts that civilized countries are trying to pursue with it. Russia is dragging out the war and trying to inflict as much damage on Ukraine as possible – their strategy is unchanged. Our strategy – the strategy of protecting life – will be strengthened. We are already doing this.
First, yesterday and today I held meetings with officers of the Security Service of Ukraine. I am grateful to Vasyl Maliuk for his strong combat work and for the asymmetric operations he knows how to carry out. It is precisely these kinds of operations that Vasyl will continue to focus on – and we discussed this work together. The Security Service of Ukraine enjoys full political support for our asymmetric actions against Russia. Yevhenii Khmara is an experienced professional, and he has now been appointed Acting Head of the Security Service of Ukraine. Khmara heads the Center of Special Operations “A” of the SSU. I also spoke with Denys Kylymnyk, First Deputy Head of the CSO “A.” He is one of those delivering exactly the kinds of strikes against the enemy that are tangible for Russians and that give Ukrainians motivation. I spoke with Vasyl Kozak, an SSU Colonel. He is a young man, one of the representatives of the new generation of Ukrainian defenders – SSU warriors. An expert in operations. We discussed what has already been done and what we are still planning. I support this work and am grateful for a fresh perspective on the SSU’s operations. I spoke with Oleksandr Poklad – and it is important that the internal protection of Ukrainian statehood and the counterintelligence component of the SSU’s work have been significantly strengthened over the years of this war. The SSU’s potential will grow further – specifically in the context of defending Ukraine, protecting our positions, and safeguarding national interests. Thank you to everyone who works in this way. Further personnel decisions will follow.
Today, I also had an important conversation with Mykhailo Fedorov – he presented the framework for reforming the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine: what the priorities should be and what decisions are needed. Of course, there must be even greater technological capability – and this is the minister’s core task. It is precisely through greater technological capacity that we must counter Russia’s attempt to make this war endless. We are countering this at the level of our security sector – the Security Service of Ukraine, intelligence, and other security elements – and also at the level of the defense sector. And it is precisely in the Ministry of Defense that the key lies to greater resilience for Ukraine and to the beginning of changes across the entire defense architecture, including the army. Concrete steps have already been taken, and they are clearly proving effective. In December, 35,000 occupiers were eliminated – and this has been confirmed with video footage. In November, there were 30,000, and in October, 26,000 eliminated occupiers. The increase in these figures is the result of the right decisions. There must be more decisions like these, and every right decision in the defense sphere saves the lives of our Ukrainian warriors.
There was a lot of international work today – we are preparing for meetings in Europe this week. Of course, we are also in constant communication with the team of the President of the United States. Air defense for Ukraine and support for Ukraine are daily tasks, and every day we must deliver results. New decisions will be made in the interests of our state. The Ukrainian negotiating team is working around the clock.
Today, I received a report from Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha. I instructed him to significantly step up the implementation of all our agreements with partners. The past year brought Ukraine many agreements and many positive documents. Behind every document there must be – and there will be – results for our resilience.
There was another appointment today as well – Chrystia Freeland will help Ukraine identify effective economic decisions. She is a person with significant experience. Chrystia has worked in Canada’s government structures and has strong global connections. All of this will support Ukraine.
I also spoke today with Dmytro Kuleba. It is important that all of us now work in unity, as one team – the team of Ukraine. That is exactly what we are doing. Ukraine deserves respect. Ukraine needs results. Thank you to everyone who is helping us.
Glory to Ukraine!