Dear Ukrainians!
There have been reports from military intelligence on Russian weapons production, and this concerns not only jet-powered “shaheds,” but also a number of other advanced technologies. We know from Russia’s internal documents what they are preparing, and what specifically is planned for next year: the volumes, the funding. We are working on our countermeasures, and for each point there, we must have a Ukrainian solution.
We already have several effective prototypes of interceptors against Russian jet-powered drones. There are teams using them in combat. We have already identified interceptors that can become our primary means of defense. Production, components – we’re scaling up all of it. There will be a response. The same applies to the other existing threats.
Obviously, the Russians are not preparing to stop their war, at least for now. Putin always finds some lame excuse – not to meet, not to hold a trilateral, not to talk, not to end it, not to stop the killing. It has been the same with him for years – and all our partners feel it. He is looking for excuses to keep waging the war. It always sounds the same – and our recent meeting with the U.S. President showed that.
America sees the situation the same way. And Russia must develop a desire to spend money not on death, but on something else – they must develop a desire to end this war. We are working on this together – with America, with Europe, with Canada, with Japan, and with many others around the world who are helping us, helping Ukraine, helping our people.
In the coming days and throughout October, there will be a lot of diplomatic activity to change the situation. But beyond that, the Lindsey Graham Act, other mechanisms of pressure – all of this needs to work even harder.
Next year, Russia plans to spend $12 billion on the production of jet-powered drones and loitering munitions alone – just on this one category of weapons. Of course, this is not only about Ukraine, not only about us.
Ukraine’s interception rate for jet-powered “shaheds” is now 55%. In September, more than 2,730 jet-powered “shaheds” were launched and more than 1,500 were shot down or suppressed. Unfortunately, a significant share still reach their targets. But step by step, we in Ukraine will build up our defenses – to a level no lower than what we already have against regular “shaheds,” more than 90 percent of which get downed.
But this directly concerns our partners as well. Many intelligence services have information that the Russians want to expand their war, their activities, to more countries. Perhaps to other regions. That is why we need to build our defense together. That is why we need to defend ourselves together, preventively.
And that is exactly why we are talking with our partners about stronger sanctions. That is why we are proposing the Drone Deal format. This is about much more than exporting certain types of weapons. It is about creating joint defense systems – sharing the experience gained by actual defenders, our warriors, modernizing our defenses and the defenses of those partners who can find themselves under pressure from Russia or its allies.
Right now, it is not only Europe that needs to take steps to protect itself. The more forces around the world we bring together for the constant modernization of defense capabilities, for addressing our shortfalls, and for joint production and joint work, the faster we will be able to guarantee security – guarantee security for everyone – and move toward genuine, real diplomacy and peace.
We already have eleven Drone Deal agreements. We signed the eleventh one with Finland this week in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. And this is a real contribution to bringing peace closer. For our partners, it means experience and security. For Ukraine, it means greater production capacity, more funding, and greater technological advantages thanks to what our partners can help us with – just as we help them. We are already preparing a twelfth Drone Deal – with a strong country – and we expect to sign it in the coming weeks.
One more thing. I want to recognize everyone – all the services, all the businesses – involved in protecting our critical infrastructure. The Russians are carrying out a campaign of strikes against Ukrainian data centers and our communications infrastructure. Everyone sees this threat. The Russians have a simple goal: to leave Ukrainians without the internet, to leave us without communications, without the relevant digital services. We are acting swiftly to counter this.
There have been Staff decisions on this, and at every stage, there are clearly defined steps to ensure Ukraine is protected from this threat as well. I thank everyone carrying out this task. I thank everyone who is helping. I thank everyone who stands with us, with Ukraine, with our people!
Glory to Ukraine!