Fellow Ukrainians!
All day today, there have been attacks by “shaheds,” many of them jet-powered. More than 120 drones already, 90 of them jet-powered. Unfortunately, there have been hits. Tragically, there have been casualties. As of now, nine people have been reported killed in different regions of our country. My condolences to their families and loved ones. More than 80 people were injured. In Kyiv, a jet-powered “shahed” struck the building of the Academy of Sciences, causing a fire. The search for one person under the rubble is still ongoing. Volodymyr Horbulin’s assistant was killed by this “shahed.” He himself was injured and is now at home. Several floors of what is effectively the main office of the Academy of Sciences were destroyed. Directly across from this building is the Central Rada building, and nearby is the monument to Mykhailo Hrushevskyi. Yet another Russian strike that shows the sheer stupidity of Russia’s war and, more broadly, the stupidity of the Russian state itself. Another jet-powered drone struck a hospital building in Kyiv. In Dnipro, there was a brutal strike on a business center, and in Odesa, an ordinary residential building was hit. There were strikes in the east of Ukraine – in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. One of the jet-powered drones reached the border with Poland. The overall drone shoot-down rate as of today is 70% – this includes both regular and jet-powered “shaheds.” But for jet-powered “shaheds,” unfortunately, the rate is much lower than it needs to be – 57% for now. New interceptors are being actively tested. Some combat teams are already using them, but of course, some details still need to be refined to ensure sufficient effectiveness and deployment at scale. We are pushing the developers to move faster. Every week, there must be more concrete results in terms of shoot-downs along the interception lines.
Today, I held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine and our diplomatic team to discuss our key priorities in working with partners over the coming weeks – in response to this situation. The Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office, our military, and our negotiating team have a clear task – to meet Ukraine’s current defense funding needs. Everything we can do together with our partners, using their funding – and this applies first and foremost to defense orders – must be 100% complete by the end of the year. So full funding is needed. And it must be secured. We have concrete decisions and a way forward on agreements with our partners. And it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the team at the Office to deliver in full on everything we discussed today. I am counting on effective support from members of parliament – if government officials fulfill their share of the commitments by October 15 to secure the funding Ukraine needs, then we need an equally clear timeline from parliament. The Government and our diplomats will maintain close communication with members of parliament.
Today, I also received a report from the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine on the measures Russia is planning next. In effect, the Russians have already begun additional mobilization – they are increasing the number of people they recruit through various means. They also plan to increase the recruitment of foreigners, and it is important that the governments of the countries from which Russia recruits people into its ranks counter this. We will inform every relevant government. We also have new data on the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia. There are currently more than 8,000 North Korean troops on Russian territory. In addition, preparations are underway to deploy another 10,000 troops – they are being selected for training and subsequent deployment to Russia. In return, Russia is paying, among other things, with technology: production of shahed-type attack drones has been established in North Korea with Russian technical support. This is how evil encroaches, and how a threat to life in one part of the world spreads to other parts. This can only be overcome together. And today, many around the world have spoken out about this Russian terror, about this cooperation between Russia and everyone who can enable even more killing. This must be countered. It has been a long time since the world imposed effective sanctions on Russia – and the Lindsey Graham law, as well as EU sanctions and sanctions from around the world, can deliver that. And it is important that our partners understand: they need to stand with Ukrainians when things like this happen, and they need to help – with concrete packages and concrete decisions – so that Ukraine can withstand this and, when the time comes, help in return. Thank you to everyone who stands with us, with Ukraine! Thank you to everyone working to make Russia feel the consequences of this.
Glory to Ukraine!