There is not enough pressure on Russia, and any easing of existing forms of pressure only motivates Putin to prolong the war - address of the President

There is not enough pressure on Russia, and any relaxation in the already existing forms of pressure only motivates Putin to prolong this war, to cause more damage to our country, our people, and others in the world as well. The weakness of the response to Russian insolence gives Russia a motive to continue the war. So many sanctions, so much pressure, so much life support are needed so that Russia has no means of subsistence in war conditions.

The main targets of this strike were our cities, our energy, and our people. Unfortunately, there are casualties. In Dnipro, a Russian drone hit a house, as of now it is known that three people died in the city. Unfortunately, there is also a dead person in Kharkiv. My sincere condolences to all relatives and friends. All services are involved.

Since last night, I have been in touch with all the responsible officials, and they must restore the supply of electricity, water, and heat as quickly as possible in those cities where there was damage. Government officials should be in the regions: in Kharkiv, in Poltava Oblast, our Dniprovshchyna, our Kirovohrad Oblast, in Donetsk Oblast, in Kherson - in all those regions where it is now necessary to make operational decisions and help our people.

The regional government should receive all necessary support from the center. I want to thank every leader from our communities - all those who really work with people. And there should be sufficient support for people both at the state level and at the community level. Everything that is needed in the first place should be. During that night, the Ukrainian Defense Forces neutralized more than 400 drones, this is a significant result of units of unmanned systems, army aviation, mobile fire groups.

There is a REB activation. Some of the missiles were also shot down, and it is very difficult, of course, to counter ballistic and aeroballistic missiles. Only a few systems in the world can shoot down such missiles, shoot them down effectively, and to cover all of our territory requires many more systems, many more missiles to those systems. We are working with partners, with America, to buy additional "patriots", we are very much counting on your support.

I thank every leader, I thank every friend of ours in Europe, in America, in Asia, who helps us, who tries to help us. There will be solutions. One more thing. Today is an important day, the professional day of an important component of our Defense Forces - the day of our Airborne Assault Troops. Warriors, without whom there are no truly strong Ukrainian results. And in every really hot spot of the front, our paratroopers operate together with our other soldiers.