Fellow Ukrainians!
Today, the Russians carried out extremely brutal strikes on Dnipro, Chernihiv, Kremenchuk. Against civilians – ordinary people. In these three cities alone, 19 people were killed in daytime attacks. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Dozens of people were injured. In Dnipro, a Russian “shahed” struck the train station. People were waiting for a train – the regular Dnipro–Zaporizhzhia route. In Chernihiv, there was a strike right in the city center. Two girls were killed – both 15 years old – Yana and Mariia. In Kremenchuk, in the Poltava region, the Russians struck an area of the city right among ordinary residential buildings. In this strike alone, six children and 26 adults were injured. Three people were killed. By evening, there were more strikes on Dnipro. Throughout the day, there were strikes on the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions. A blatant display of Russian brutality. They are doing this deliberately – when everyone is counting on steps toward de-escalation. Russia is showing its true attitude toward all of this. Today, both national leaders and many public figures expressed their condolences to Ukraine, to Ukrainians. We are grateful to them. It is important that this not be limited to condolences. There must be fair treatment toward Ukraine and toward Russia. Ukraine needs support, and Russia must face pressure.
Yesterday, we had a strong decision from the United Kingdom – I would like to thank Prime Minister Burnham. Ukraine will receive an additional £10 billion over the next three years. A very strong decision. We also discussed with the Prime Minister the need for new sanctions against Russia. There is also a decision by the Netherlands to support Ukraine – we agreed on this yesterday with Prime Minister Jetten. Thank you, Rob! It was a substantive meeting, and we count on further steps regarding air defense for Ukraine as well. In the coming days, we will continue working with our partners to strengthen our defense capabilities. There will be packages we need, and I thank our partners who truly respond swiftly. But it is also important that America not remain silent about the killings that continue unabated – this is crucial. Of course, we are doing everything possible to ensure that the humanitarian operation in Oleshky succeeds, and Ukrainian forces are maintaining the ceasefire. And humanitarian aspects must be felt not just in one particular section of the front. We must act and turn the situation around so that Russia moves toward de-escalation and so that this applies to our entire country, not just Oleshky.
A few more things.
I held a meeting of the Staff today. The key issue was countering Russian ballistic missiles. Sanctions pressure is insufficient – and we need the packages from partners that we have discussed with them. When it comes to key jurisdictions, sanctions can indeed have a significant restrictive effect, but not immediately – only over time. Sometimes this requires months of work. The longer sanctions packages targeting ballistic missiles are delayed, the longer Russia can maintain its supply schemes for the components needed for this production. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs must accelerate this work with our partners. We also set additional tasks for our long-range sanctions, which work much faster. For now, no public details on this, but everyone could see in recent weeks that Ukraine’s long-range capabilities are delivering results. I have just received a report – we carried out two missile strikes, destroying two Russian Su-34s and hitting an Iskander launcher. Thank you, guys, for the result!
Another aspect of our anti-ballistic work is the packages of interceptors, primarily for Patriots, that our partners can provide us. They must protect lives. We now have intel about the Russians preparing new ballistic missile attacks. We need the capabilities to shoot down all this Russian evil. We are awaiting the relevant decisions. I want to thank everyone who really helps us! Please take care of yourselves.
Glory to Ukraine!