Right now in Sumy, a rescue operation is still ongoing. All services are involved – Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, National Police, our medical and municipal services. There are many injured – as of now, reports confirm nearly 90 people injured, including 17 children. At the epicenter of the attack were a school and residential buildings. Fortunately, the children at the school were in shelter. I am grateful to everyone helping the people and to all those saving the lives of Ukrainians. Each day like this, every night under Russian missiles and drones, every single day of this war brings loss, pain, and destruction that Ukraine never wanted. The war was brought from Russia, and it is to Russia that the war must be pushed back. They must be the ones forced into peace. They are the ones who must be pressured to ensure security. Thank you to everyone who is helping us in this. Thank you to all who are working for the security of Ukraine, for the protection of our people, and for the defense of our cities.
First and foremost, gratitude to our air defenders. Every night now brings massive Russian drone attacks – nearly a hundred Shaheds each time. Many are being shot down. As of this morning alone, 97 drones were shot down overnight. Mobile fire groups, electronic warfare units, air defense crews – thank you. Unfortunately, there are also hits. We need significantly more effectiveness in our air defense. The development of an efficient air shield will not stop. Today, I would like to thank all our partners who are helping us in this. But we need more air defense systems, more ammunition specifically for shooting down drones. We are discussing this with all our partners. Last night in Kyiv, tragically, three people were killed by Russian drones, including a father and his five-year-old daughter. Just a day earlier in Zaporizhzhia, a Russian strike took the lives of an entire family – a mother, a father, and their daughter. My condolences to all the families and loved ones. There must be more pressure on Russia to stop this terror. And that depends on all our partners – the U.S., Europe, and others around the world.
Today, I held a Staff Meeting. Several issues were discussed, but the key topic was drones – all types that we need. There is good news regarding long-range drones: our 3,000-kilometer-range drone has successfully passed testing. I am grateful to the developers and manufacturers. We are advancing a line of long-range capabilities that will help guarantee the security of our state. There was also a report on the use of Ukrainian missiles – the long Neptune, and we can say we are satisfied with the strike results. However, we need to produce more missiles, more drones, and this week, we will discuss this with our partners. Ukraine’s defense production capacity, combined with partner investments – primarily from Europe – forms a reliable foundation for a new security architecture that will inevitably be established on our continent. There is no alternative to this. Security is essential, and it is only a matter of time before everyone on the continent realizes that the old security architecture will no longer work. New solutions are needed. Sufficient modern technological weaponry. Sufficient defense spending. Sufficient investment in defense production. And most importantly – motivation. Motivation to defend one’s home. And this means contingents that have relevant combat experience, and that are trained by those who have already gained such experience.
Today, the Commander-in-Chief provided a report on the battlefield situation. Fighting and our defensive operations continue along almost the entire front line, including many key locations – from the Kharkiv region and the Kupyansk sector to the southern directions.After the talks in Jeddah and the American proposal for a ceasefire on the frontline, Russia stole almost another week – a week of war that only Russia wants. We will do everything to further intensify diplomacy. We will do everything to make diplomacy effective. But every day now is about defending our independence, our state, and our people. We must remember – it is the support of our army, all our defense and security forces, and our state that determines everything.I thank each and every one who does not forget that Ukraine’s defense and resilience are paramount. I am grateful to all Ukrainian soldiers, every one of our units. I thank everyone who works for our defense and for our state. I thank all Ukrainians for every fundraiser for our Ukrainian army. We must remember – as long as the occupier is on our land, and as long as air raid sirens sound, we must defend Ukraine.Glory to Ukraine!
Today, I spoke with Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State. I thanked him for his support, and for his prayers for Ukraine and for peace. The Vatican is very supportive of the realistic possibility of saving lives through a ceasefire.Today, I also spoke with Patriarch Bartholomew. He also expressed his support for our state and our people. Support for our diplomacy. I have just spoken with American Pastor Franklin Graham, President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He is a very wise man. And we really appreciate such voices in the United States of America – voices for peace. Today, I also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron – Emmanuel, as always, has a clear knowledge of all the details and offers good ideas. We analyzed the state of diplomacy today, the options available. We discussed the technical aspects of monitoring the ceasefire, possible next steps in diplomacy and in protecting our people and our Europe. Today, I also have a scheduled conversation with President Erdogan of Türkiye – I want to inform the President about our position on the ceasefire and our readiness for quick and honest diplomacy aimed at ending the war.
Right now, we have all heard from Russia Putin’s highly predictable and manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire on the front lines—at this moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it.Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians. That’s why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible. Putin does this often—he doesn’t say ‘no’ outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible. We see this as yet another round of Russian manipulation.There was a U.S. proposal for an unconditional ceasefire—in the air, at sea, and on the front lines. We in Ukraine accepted this proposal. We have heard from the American side that there is readiness to organize monitoring and verification. And this is absolutely feasible—with American and European capabilities.And during the ceasefire, to prepare answers to all questions about long-term security and a real, lasting peace, and to put a plan to end the war on the table. Ukraine is ready to work as quickly and constructively as possible. We have discussed this with U.S. representatives, and our European partners, as well as all our allies worldwide, are aware of it.We are not setting conditions that complicate the process—Russia is. As we have always said, the only one stalling, the only one being unconstructive, is Russia. They need this war. Putin has stolen years of peace and continues this war day after day.Now is the time to increase pressure on him. Sanctions must be applied—ones that will work. We will continue working with our American and European partners and with everyone in the world who wants peace—to force Russia to end this war.
Our delegation has just reported on the meeting with the American team in Saudi Arabia. Our, Ukraine’s proposal for this meeting with the Americans consisted of three points: silence in the skies – meaning no missiles, bombs, or long-range drones – and silence at sea; and real measures to establish confidence in this whole situation, in which diplomacy is ongoing, which means, primarily, the release of prisoners. The American side understands our arguments and accepts our proposals, I would like to thank President Trump for the constructive nature of the dialogue between our teams. And today, during the discussion, there was a proposal specifically from the American side to immediately take the first step beyond that and try to establish a complete ceasefire for 30 days, not only with regard to missiles, drones and bombs, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire frontline. Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take this step. The United States of America needs to convince Russia to do so. That is, we agree, and if the Russians agree, the silence will take effect at that very moment. An important element in today's discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support. Ukraine is ready for peace. Russia must also show whether it is ready to end the war – or continue it. The time has come for the whole truth. I thank everyone who helps Ukraine. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
Today, throughout the day, rescue efforts continued in the city of Dobropillya in the Donetsk region after the Russian strike. It was one of the most brutal strikes, a combined one. The strike was deliberately calculated to cause maximum damage. Missiles, along with a “Shahed” drone, targeted the central part of the city. Nine residential buildings were hit. Also, the shopping center and stores were struck. Tragically, eleven people were killed. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Among the victims is an employee of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The second strike occurred when the rescuers started working. 50 people were wounded. All of them received the necessary assistance. Among the wounded are seven children, the youngest is a 10-year-old girl.There were also other shellings today in the Donetsk region, as well as the Kharkiv and our southern regions. In Kherson, there was another strike by FPV drones on civilians. Literally every day, Russia proves with its cruelty that nothing has changed for them in Moscow. They are thinking not about how to end the war, but about how to destroy and capture more as long as the world allows them to keep waging this war.Of course, we are doing our utmost to protect lives. And I am grateful to all the leaders, all those diplomats of our partner countries, all public figures who support Ukraine, who have condemned these Russian strikes and who call all things by their proper names. And it is essential that we continue coordinating all our efforts with our partners to ensure that our defense works effectively and that we do everything to bring peace closer.
I held a Staff meeting. There was a detailed analysis of today's Russian strike and the operation of our air defenses. We usually do such analyses of combat activities after massive attacks – identifying weak points as well as lessons learned that deserve to be shared. Today, all the necessary reports on this were presented. Special emphasis was placed on the effectiveness of our air defenses. In total, the Russians used more than 260 aerial attack assets in this strike: cruise and ballistic missiles, attack drones.Today, this Russian strike on our energy system and civilian facilities occurred so routinely for Russia, so vile and cynical, as always, as if there are no efforts at all from Ukraine and the world to end this war. Ukraine is ready for peace as soon as possible: we have proposed concrete steps. And every day, new Russian strikes and reality itself prove that it is Russia that must be forced into peace – into stopping the war, into real diplomacy, into ensuring security and into a reliable and lasting peace. I thank everyone who is helping Ukraine, everyone who is supporting our state, our people, our defense, and simply the truth.
Right now, there is a lot of coordination with leaders, and not only in Europe.Today, I spoke with the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda. The stronger Ukraine’s sovereignty, the safer Poland is. I spoke with the Prime Minister of Croatia. We do a lot together with Croatia, and we exchanged views on our next steps and upcoming events.My next conversation was with the President of the Czech Republic. And we highly value the principled Czech stance.I also had a conversation today with the Prime Minister of Sweden – a country from a region now facing constant hybrid threats and numerous highly troubling incidents in the Baltic Sea. Today, I also had a substantive discussion with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg about various ideas and proposals in Europe aimed at ensuring peace and security guarantees. Slovenia: the Prime Minister and I had a very good conversation. And it is essential that every nation in the world and on our continent is heardIreland: I spoke today with the Taoiseach about our cooperation in Europe and about current key diplomatic positions.Côte d'Ivoire: I spoke today with the President. I am grateful for the support of our sovereignty, and the position that international affairs require true respect for the interests of every nation. I thank everyone for their support!
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