I wish you health!
A brief update on today. There was a Staff meeting. A very detailed discussion on the development of drones in Ukraine, contracts, finances, technical issues, and production. Our task is to clearly increase supplies to the army, as well as maximize the technological advantages of our Ukrainian drones. Today, I received reports on the downing of the "Shahed" drones by interceptor drones – I want to thank everyone who is developing this area. We are working to increase the production of jet-powered and fiber-optic drones – this is extremely important right now, one of the key priorities, and we need sufficient supplies for the troops. We also discussed our missile program today – accelerating production to the maximum. We are also working on establishing domestic production of anti-aircraft missile systems and all necessary air defense systems in Ukraine. These days, during meetings in Europe and earlier in negotiations with other partners, we discussed the localization of production for some air defense systems and missiles for them in Ukraine – this must definitely be achieved. I would like to thank all our partners who support us in this industrial and technological development, and everything we are achieving now in Ukraine will be a joint result for all of Europe – our shared and lasting security.
Today, there was also a separate and detailed report by Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov – particularly regarding support packages from our partners. There are good new agreements. There is also an understanding that a new meeting in the “Ramstein” format should take place as early as April – with Germany and the United Kingdom currently leading the format. We are working on its substantive content. I have instructed Ukraine’s Minister of Defense to present to our American partners all the facts regarding damage to our energy infrastructure caused by Russian attacks. Just in the past 24 hours, there was a targeted Russian drone strike on gas infrastructure in the Poltava region. There was also an artillery strike on Kherson, which damaged the city’s power infrastructure. Also yesterday, one of Russia’s attacks on Kharkiv damaged the city’s heating supply infrastructure. All of this shows that Russia will continue to sabotage diplomacy, and will continue to act in this way, and that Moscow’s only tactic remains dragging out the war. Putin may say things that sound like he agrees with the American side, but in reality, the Russian army just keeps pushing forward with all available military means. Therefore, pressure on Russia is needed to make diplomacy work. Back on March 11, Ukraine accepted the U.S. proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, and since then, Russia has been fully responsible for stalling diplomacy.
Today I also approved several personnel decisions aimed at strengthening our defense capabilities – specifically, the aviation component of the Defense Forces. We had a meeting with representatives from the public sector, the military, and the Office, all of whom were helping develop military aviation. Liliya Averyanova, the mother of Juice, the Hero of Ukraine Andrii Pilschykov, took part in the discussion. Together, we agreed on a new structure to strengthen the aviation component, as well as on specific management and technological steps. Now for the appointments. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine will have a specialized deputy specifically for combat aviation – Oleksandr Kozenko. He has been involved in the integration of the F-16 and Mirage aircraft in Ukraine for a long time. Major General Oleksii Marchenko will now serve as Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine in this particular aviation area, Brigadier General Serhii Holubtsov will be Deputy Commander of the Air Force, and Colonel Oleksandr Diakiv will be Commander of Aviation, Deputy Commander of the Air Force. Clear deadlines have been set for the new management structure to yield more results and motivation to the entire aviation component of the Defense Forces. I thank everyone who is helping! I thank all our warriors!
Glory to Ukraine!