Dear Ukrainians!
Today, response efforts continued throughout the day in different cities and regions of our country following the Russian attack. In Lviv, work was underway to clear the rubble and search for people. And in the Dnipro region as well, in Radushne near Kryvyi Rih. There, a ballistic missile hit a house directly – an ordinary house belonging to an ordinary family. Children were killed and their parents… My condolences to everyone who lost family members and loved ones today. In the strike on Radushne, for the first time in a while, the Russians used a North Korean missile, according to preliminary data. Of course, more examinations will follow, and everything will be verified, but as of now – it is a North Korean ballistic missile. The alliance between the Moscow scumbags and the deranged regime in North Korea exists for the sake of missiles, North Korean troops on our borders here in Europe, and killing our Ukrainian children.
Of course, many around the world condemned this strike today. There were many expressions of sympathy over the loss of life. European countries also made many statements because a Russian missile flew into Polish territory and exploded somewhere in a field near Lublin. What matters most, however, is not mere sympathy and condemnation, but air defense missiles and pressure on Russia that can stop this dumb Russian war, all their strikes and their terror. This war could have been ended long ago, but Putin does not want that. One moment he is looking for weapons in North Korea, the next in Iran, and then he finds something else – all to keep the war going and keep killing. Evil that can only be stopped by sufficient force. This has happened more than once in the history of our people, our nation. What is different, for the first time now, is only unity – the unity we have built, our maximum unity with the world. Our cooperation – our ability, now in the fifth year of the full-scale war, to ensure the protection of life. Air defense missiles – for Patriots in the first place, but also for NASAMS, IRIS-T, HAWK, and our other systems – are the key priority. I very much hope that all of our partners – above all our American partners, as well as our friends in Europe – will feel that real human lives depend on whether they help us, whether they help Ukraine.
Today, I had meetings with our military – the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Chief of the General Staff, the Minister of Defense, and the relevant Deputy Head of the Office of the President. There was also a meeting with the Security Service of Ukraine. It is important that everyone – and I mean everyone – works as a team, moving as swiftly as possible to find what we need in partner countries, to convince them to help us more, and to respond asymmetrically to Russian attacks. There are steps, there are decisions that we agreed on today and that we very much need. There will also be more of our deep strikes – so that this Russian war is sent back to where it came from, and so that the Russians know and feel who is the one and only unwilling to end this war. And the reason is solely in Moscow. It is important that the world not simply sympathize with us, but help us deal with this for real.
And one more thing.
Today, I spoke with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi and Minister of Infrastructure Mykola Kalashnyk. We are preparing an NSDC meeting for the beginning of next week on the implementation of resilience plans in the regions. Unfortunately, a lot still hasn’t been done in the regions. Every region must catch up. Second, we discussed in detail the challenges facing the railways due to Russian strikes, logistics in general, as well as the challenges in Odesa due to Russia’s ongoing terror. There are things that need to be done – for now, this is not public – to strengthen our logistics capabilities. And third, I instructed that more forces be brought in for work in frontline and border communities, specifically for defensive measures on roads and infrastructure facilities. I thank the Prime Minister for taking a very thorough approach to this. We need results. I thank everyone defending Ukraine and protecting life! Eternal memory to all our people who were killed by Russia’s war.
Glory to Ukraine!