At the end of this difficult 168th day of our defense, a few things should be said.
First. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, our intelligence and our law enforcement agencies will not leave today's Russian shelling of the Dnipropetrovsk region unanswered. 13 people died as a result of the occupiers' attack on Marhanets'. More than ten are wounded, five are in grave condition.
Russian troops were striking with "Grads". This regular manifestation of Russian terror, just as the attacks on Mykolaiv and Kharkiv, once again proves that it is necessary to increase military aid to Ukraine. The more powerful our weapons are and the greater the range of their use is, the sooner this cruel war will end.
And that's the second thing I wanted to say today. This is a question that worries absolutely everyone: when will the war end? Someone says - months, someone - a year, someone - even more. But the question of time actually directly depends on the question of the losses that Russia will suffer. The more losses the occupiers suffer, the sooner we will be able to liberate our land and guarantee Ukraine's security. This is what everyone who defends our state and helps Ukraine should think about: how to inflict the greatest possible losses on the occupiers so that the time of the war gets shorter.
If almost 43,000 dead Russian soldiers do not convince the Russian leadership that they need to find a way out of the war, then more fighting is needed, more results are needed to convince.
In just one day, the occupiers lost ten combat aircraft: nine in Crimea and one more in the direction of Zaporizhzhia. The occupiers also suffer new losses of armored vehicles, warehouses with ammunition, logistics routes...
A conference at the level of defense ministers of Ukraine's partner states begins tomorrow in Copenhagen. Further support for our state in this war, including weapons, will be discussed. I am grateful to all our partners who understand that only by ensuring Russia's defeat on the battlefield, only by Russian losses - military, political, economic - can the return of security for Ukraine and the whole of Europe be brought closer. The more weapons, the more military-technical and financial support Ukraine receives, the sooner our people and all Europeans will be able to experience peace and stability in life again.
And the third thing. I want to say it right now to the residents of the temporarily occupied territory. No matter what the occupiers promise, their only way is to escape. At best. If they make it in time.
We expelled the Russian army from the northern regions. We expelled the invaders from our Zmiinyi Island. They already feel that the time has come to flee from Kherson and from the south of our country in general. The time will come when they will flee from the Kharkiv region, from Donbas, from Crimea... And everyone who can help in this, should do so.
If you have any important information about the enemy, please report it in a safe way to our intelligence services, our military. If you know those who help the occupiers or justify aggression, please report this as well.
Be sure to help our people in the occupied territory who are left alone or without communication. Talk to them, support them, tell them about our struggle and about the possibilities of evacuating to a free territory. The invaders are using our people to cover their attacks as human shields. Ukraine will return everything of its own, and must save as many lives as possible.
I held several important meetings today, in particular, regarding the program for the fast recovery of liberated territories.
I continue to establish new ties at the highest level with African countries - today I spoke with the President of the Republic of Ghana. Yesterday - with the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Food security, cooperation in international organizations, economic ties are a range of issues that benefit both our state and African countries.
In the evening, I signed another decree awarding our defenders. 244 combatants were awarded state awards, 21 of them posthumously.
Ukrainians should always remember that every step of our army in this war was made in cruel and difficult battles. The occupiers have not captured anything without the resistance of our heroes since February 24 and will not be able to keep anything. We will liberate everything.
Eternal glory to everyone who fights for our country!
Eternal memory to all those who gave their lives for Ukraine!
Glory to Ukraine!
