Dear Ukrainians!
I have just signed a decree awarding the title of Hero of Ukraine to Maksym Ustymenko – a Ukrainian pilot and one of our very best. Sadly, the award is posthumous. Today, he was killed while defending our skies, defending our people from yet another massive Russian attack – more than 500 strike drones and missiles were launched just last night alone, most of which were shot down. Maksym Ustymenko had been fighting since the ATO period. He mastered four types of aircraft, and his record includes truly significant achievements for Ukraine. Losing people like him is deeply painful. My condolences to his family, loved ones, friends, and brothers-in-arms. May his memory be eternal!
Today, I also signed a decree enacting the decision of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council regarding the Ottawa Convention – the convention banning anti-personnel mines. Russia has never been a party to this convention and uses anti-personnel mines with extreme cynicism. And not just now, in its war against Ukraine – this has long been a trademark of Russian killers: to destroy life by every means available. They use chemical and ballistic weapons, including medium-range missiles, and various types of mines, including anti-personnel ones. Unfortunately, that is the reality. Of course, we see how our neighbors in Europe are reacting to this threat. We are also aware of the complexities involved in withdrawing from such a convention, especially during wartime. But we are taking this political step and sending a signal by it to all our partners – this is where attention must be focused. This concerns all countries along Russia’s borders. It is anti-personnel mines that very often have no alternative as a tool for defense.
And one more thing.
Our institutions have begun implementing the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on synchronizing European and Ukrainian sanctions. The 13th and 14th EU sanctions packages are now fully synchronized – and are also one hundred percent Ukrainian sanctions. I have formalized this today. We are also fully aligning the European sanctions package targeting the regime in Iran, which includes numerous entities and numerous companies, not only involved in military production and external terror schemes against neighboring countries in the region, but also in internal repression within Iran itself. It is one of the most brutal regimes in the world. No surprise that Putin found common ground with it. We will continue all these synchronization efforts, and I expect every one of our state institutions to act quickly. Sanctions must now be one of the top priorities – global sanctions against Russia. They are a real tool for limiting Russia’s strategic development capabilities and potential, and they must, day by day, increasingly and painfully restrict Russia’s ability to continue this war – the war against our independence. Next week, we are preparing new joint decisions with our partners on our defense and our resilience. I thank everyone who is helping us. I thank everyone who cares for Ukraine as they would for themselves.
Glory to Ukraine!