Ukraine is fighting for its future with redoubled strength because it is living in times that demand resilience, resolve, and endurance. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this during events marking Ukrainian Statehood Day and the Day of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus-Ukraine.
The Head of State thanked the foreign guests for visiting Ukraine and for their support of the Ukrainian people. He noted that he had returned from France earlier that day, where, for the first time, Ukrainian warriors took part in the military parade along the Champs-Élysées, and Ukrainian combat pilots flew Mirage fighter jets over Paris for the first time. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for the invitation and for this honor.
The President emphasized that Ukraine and Europe will, for the first time, build an anti-ballistic shield together. He called it a historic project in which our state is not an observer but one of the leaders bringing together countries and Europe's strongest defense companies.
"The FREYJA project has been launched. We will do everything necessary to build Europe’s anti-ballistic system by integrating all European anti-ballistic capabilities. So that the skies over our nations are protected. So that dictators cannot dictate how free people in Europe should live. So that the lives of people in Ukraine and in every European country do not depend on whether Putin and those like him have ballistic missiles or not," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
According to the President, toward that same goal, Ukraine is also fighting to secure protection for itself across the Atlantic. For the first time, our country is moving closer to the possibility of producing missiles for Patriot systems and could become the third country in history to reach such an agreement and receive this privilege.
"I want to thank the President of the United States for this political decision, which is already historic and will help save thousands of lives in Ukraine. It is crucial that our two sides and our teams succeed in seeing this through, and that Patriot missiles bearing the words ‘Made in Ukraine’ become a reality as soon as possible," Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.
The President also stressed that Ukraine is strengthening its own capabilities and is, for the first time, developing its own ballistic missiles and deep-strike weapons.
"Unlike Russia, which wages war against residential buildings, schools, and churches, Ukraine strikes the ‘sponsors’ of Putin’s war and the tools that help him kill people. There are no longer any coordinates in the territory of evil that are beyond the reach of Ukrainian justice. Five hundred of our drones a day, dozens of their oil refineries, shadow fleet tankers, and Russia’s military infrastructure have all felt firsthand that it’s not worth encroaching on Ukrainian statehood," Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
The President thanked every leader doing everything possible to strengthen our shared security, particularly for supplying SAMP/T, IRIS-T, NASAMS, Patriot, and Hawk systems.
"Today, we can state the fact: we are producing 10 million drones a year. Ten. And we will produce 20 million. We will do this together with our partners and once again prove the strength of our defense industries – Ukrainian, allied, European," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The Head of State noted that Ukrainian robotic systems have already carried out tens of thousands of missions on the battlefield, helping save the lives of the warriors. Ukrainian interceptor drones are also now shooting down at least 90% of “shahed” drones, while Neptune and Harpoon maritime drones are delivering just punishment to the occupier and depriving Russia of funds to wage war.
"This is Ukraine today. A state that was given 72 hours, yet has stood firm through 12 years of Russian aggression and 1,603 days of full-scale war. Russia started this war and called it an ‘SVO.’ Even in that, they sought to humiliate our statehood and portray Ukraine as incapable and weak. Their plan to seize our country was designed to take three days. As though some mere operation on some piece of land – supposedly gifted to us by someone – would be enough. Today, even Russian state propagandists admit that Ukraine is a strong state – one that Russia cannot and will not defeat. A state Europe needs. A state NATO needs," the President concluded.
