Dear Ukrainians!
There has been a lot of coordination today on recovery efforts following Russian strikes. Russia’s ballistic campaign against Ukraine continues, and unfortunately, because of the shortage of Patriot missiles, there have been significant hits on our energy infrastructure and logistics. Ivan Fedorov, Head of the Agency for Restoration, reported from the Dnipro region, where he is currently on the ground, on the aftermath of Russian strikes and how long reconstruction will take. This concerns Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih, as well as other cities and villages of the Dnipro region. Work is also underway in the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions, in our communities that are critical to transmitting electricity from generation facilities to cities.
Today, Ukraine is generating more electricity than it consumes. But because Russia is striking substations and power grids, we are unfortunately seeing very significant shortages in Kyiv and other regions in the north, east, and center of Ukraine. We are increasing the number of repair crews and supplying all the equipment needed.
We also discussed logistics separately. The Russians are striking bridges across the Dnipro – from Kyiv all the way to Zaporizhzhia. During the night leading into today, the Kyiv Northern Bridge was hit. Six ballistic missiles were fired at the bridge, and four struck it. I spoke with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Koretskyi today and Ukraine’s Interior Minister Vyhivskyi: Kyiv needs backup transport arrangements. At present, reserves specifically for transport are insufficient, unfortunately. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will now take this on, and I hope it will work together with the Kyiv City Administration.
I also spoke with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. Our country will be represented in several formats in November that can bring Ukraine greater strength: the G7, the Group of Seven – the world's largest democracies – as well as the Coalition of the Willing and Ramstein, a very important format for supporting our defense. We are working to make each of these formats as productive as possible. And, of course, the results must focus first and foremost on air defenses and support for our energy sector. All packages that can strengthen our defense and support our people's resilience must arrive on time.
I also want to thank our military today. The front is strong, and all our operations are proceeding exactly as planned. The 95th Airborne Assault Brigade, operating in the Oleksandrivka direction – thank you very much, warriors! They are conducting successful offensive operations and keep destroying the occupiers. The 37th Separate Marine Brigade – thank you for reliably repelling Russian assaults. Also, the 127th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade and the 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, operating in the Pivdenno-Slobozhanskyi direction – thank you!
Our Unmanned Systems Forces. Thank you to the 20th Separate Unmanned Systems Brigade and the K-2 unit: excellent results. Also, our Navy warriors, especially the crew of our mobile Neptune missile system that carried out strikes on Russian military production facilities in the Rostov region and the city of Oryol. Thank you for your precision, guys!
And special thanks to all the warriors of the SSU's Alpha Special Operations Center. This is a consistently highly effective unit. Alpha is responsible for the highest number of strikes against Russian occupiers. And honestly, I would very much like to see results like these from every other branch of the Security Service as well.
Unfortunately, this week brought very different news about the SSU – frankly, disturbing, truly disgraceful, absolutely unacceptable things. And there have already been dismissals within the Security Service of Ukraine over this, and further personnel decisions will follow. It is important that the investigation establish the full truth about what happened, and that everyone who ordered these crimes and acts of violence against people is brought to justice. I know we need our partners' support to make that happen, particularly regarding this so-called Khimprom group. We have already discussed this with the United States at the appropriate level. We need results. We have information that this very criminal has already begun operations in Poland. We also have information that he is trying to enter the German market with synthetic drugs. We will share all the information we have with our partners.
Today, I also approved a draft law reinstating mandatory asset declarations for all SSU employees, so that their lifestyles and everything they own are open to scrutiny and accountability. The same rules that apply to other government agencies – not just law enforcement bodies, by the way. I ask members of parliament to pass this law without delay.
Glory to Ukraine!