We Must Strengthen Ourselves and Take Care of People, of Personnel – of All Our Warriors – Address by the President

30 August 2024 – 20:13

Dear Ukrainians!

Rescue operations are currently underway in Kharkiv where Russian bombs hit. Unfortunately, there are dead people. Among them is a child. A girl, Sofia. She would have turned 15 this fall. My condolences to all the families and friends. There are many injured. Everyone is receiving help, and the rescuers are doing everything they can to save as many lives as possible. I thank everyone who is involved and who is supporting Kharkiv and Kharkiv residents. These are terrible, vile Russian strikes directly on buildings, on a city park. Russia will definitely be held accountable for all its evil. But everyone in the world must remember that the most effective tactic is to prevent evil from acting. We need decisions that can be made by our partners, by those countries on whom it depends – whether we have the ability to destroy Russian military aircraft exactly where they are based, exactly where the elimination of these terrorists and their aircraft can be the most effective. We in Ukraine, along with our friends around the world, are not just talking about long-range decisions. About strong decisions. About things that can bring us closer to ending this war, because, for Putin, the most important aspect of his wars is the terror against civilians, the intimidation, and the abuse of people. This is how the Russian evil came everywhere, to Syria, and Georgia, and Ukraine. They have the same terror tactics everywhere, and we must put a stop to this. It can be ensured by our, Ukrainian, long-range capabilities, with appropriate support for our Defense Forces and air defense systems for Ukraine. All the things we are talking about with our partners.

Today we had many meetings about our military work. There was a report by the Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. Today, I also held a meeting of the Staff. First, there was a report by the Commander-in-Chief about the front, with a focus on the Pokrovsk direction. Toretsk. Defense against Russian assaults. The most challenging areas. It is crucial that everyone, at all state levels, who is involved in this, really make their maximum efforts to ensure our resilience and that of our warriors. And I thank everyone who is now really effectively destroying the occupier and protecting our positions. I thank every soldier and commander, everyone who produces and supplies the necessary weapons, shells, drones. Also today, the Commander-in-Chief reported on the development of our actions in the Kursk region. The daily result there, which is important for all of us, is the replenishment of the exchange fund for Ukraine. And the more this replenishment is, the more of our people we will be able to bring back from Russian captivity. This is our strategic priority.

Also today, at the Staff meeting, I received reports on preparations for the school year. This is the personal responsibility of Government officials: both the Prime Minister and the Ministers. The maximum number of schools should be opened offline – first of all, this is a question of shelters. Also, the readiness of schools to meet the existing energy challenges. This is the direct task of the Government. And today there were several important dialogues on energy – the consequences of the strikes and the defense that should be in place. And in the Staff meetings, it was repeatedly discussed and decided what to do, how to act, what to provide. Now it is time to draw conclusions.

I have decided to replace the Commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I am immensely grateful to all our military pilots, all engineers, all warriors of mobile firing groups, air defense units. All those who really fight for Ukraine – for the result. And the same goes for the command level – we must strengthen ourselves. And take care of people. Take care of personnel – take care of all our warriors.

Glory to Ukraine!

LTG Anatoliy Kryvonozhko is now the acting head of the Air Force. pic.twitter.com/Bk3zcajftf

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 30, 2024

Apparently part of the motivation for the removal of the Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force is the allegation that Colonel Mes – he was posthumously promoted – was shot down by friendly fire from a Ukrainian Patriot battery.  We will have to wait for the outcome of the investigation to see whether or not this happened, but if it did, it wouldn’t be the first time this has happened. During the first few years of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a couple of F-16s were brought down by friendly fire from Patriots because the targeting software couldn’t discriminate between an incoming missile or a US F-16. Raytheon created a fix about twenty years ago. I would expect the Patriot systems provided to Ukraine to have fully up to date targeting software, but at this point anything is possible.

The cost:

Today, Russia hit Kharkiv and killed seven people. Fifty people were injured. Among dead young artist Nika Kozhushko.
No words… pic.twitter.com/lcJfrViSqd

— Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina) August 30, 2024

18-year-old artist Veronika Kozhushko was killed by the Russian strike on Kharkiv.

Serhii Zhadan, famous Ukrainian writer, musician and serviceman reported that on Friday, August 30th.

“Today, during a strike on Kharkiv, Nika Kozhushko died – very young, sincere and gifted. An… https://t.co/pUltfask3S pic.twitter.com/6CPMPGFuPD

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 30, 2024

18-year-old artist Veronika Kozhushko was killed by the Russian strike on Kharkiv.

Serhii Zhadan, famous Ukrainian writer, musician and serviceman reported that on Friday, August 30th.

“Today, during a strike on Kharkiv, Nika Kozhushko died – very young, sincere and gifted. An hour before her death, she sent her new drawing. That is, her last drawing. Russians continue destroying our future. There is no explanation for that. And there is no forgiveness, as well,” Zhadan wrote.

RIP.

Was honored to meet with @SecDef Lloyd Austin in the United States.

An important, constructive meeting.

I briefed Secretary on the operational situation on the battlefield and our further objectives, the priority needs of the Ukrainian army in terms of weapons, equipment and… pic.twitter.com/PeqBljDGoD

— Rustem Umerov (@rustem_umerov) August 30, 2024

Was honored to meet with @SecDef Lloyd Austin in the United States.

An important, constructive meeting.

I briefed Secretary on the operational situation on the battlefield and our further objectives, the priority needs of the Ukrainian army in terms of weapons, equipment and training of our troops.

Air defense remains our priority—we need air defense systems and interceptors to protect our critical infrastructure, our cities, and our people.

Special thanks to Lloyd Austin for his personal contribution to the work of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

Another focus of the meeting is the development of the Ukrainian defense industry.
Over the past two years, we have launched hundreds of new businesses capable of rapidly producing high-quality weapons. Cooperation with our partners is critical for expanding production and ensuring an even more effective defense of Ukraine.

At the meeting, the Ukrainian side was represented by the head of the Office of the President @AndriyYermak, Deputy Minister of Defense for European Integration @O_Balanutsa, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Major General Volodymyr Horbatiuk and Chief of the Main Logistics Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Lieutenant General Mykola Shevtsov.

Thanks to the USA for their leadership and support 🇺🇦🇺🇸

Poland:

https://t.co/nYRDu8GVlT

— 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐒𝐀 | 🇪🇺🇫🇷🇵🇱🇺🇦 (@tweet4Anna_NAFO) August 30, 2024

With friends like these, neither Poland or Ukraine don’t need enemies.

There is something devilishly helpless in a policy of just expecting Vladimir Putin to show reason and de-escalate the war on Ukraine and giving his bombers a comfortable safe haven to devastate Ukrainian cities unpunished.

Historians of the future will have to write tons of… pic.twitter.com/5mzhC4RCkZ

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 30, 2024

There is something devilishly helpless in a policy of just expecting Vladimir Putin to show reason and de-escalate the war on Ukraine and giving his bombers a comfortable safe haven to devastate Ukrainian cities unpunished.

Historians of the future will have to write tons of volumes of works to try and comprehend this absurdity.

You may be wondering how are the sanctions against Russia are working:

Russian economy is “overheating” and is expected to grow by 3.5-4% in 2024, the Central Bank of Russia said in its latest forecast

Production capacities and labour resources had already been “nearly fully used, with utilisation close to 80 per cent”https://t.co/W1VeSsXigX pic.twitter.com/vFwCRKePgA

— Anastasia Stognei (@NastyaStognei) August 30, 2024

From The Financial Times:

Russia’s “overheating” economy will slow sharply next year with interest rates stuck at well above prewar levels until 2027, the Russian central bank has said.

Rapid growth, expected to hit 3.5 to 4 per cent this year, has been driven primarily by strong domestic demand from consumers and the state, which has outpaced supply, the CBR said in its annual report.

It said acute labour shortages and the negative effects of western sanctions were crimping production.

The central bank assessment underscores the challenges facing the Russian economy, despite its better than expected overall performance even with sanctions imposed by the west after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The CBR projects economic growth of 0.5 to 1.5 per cent in 2025 and 1 to 2 per cent in 2026, under its baseline scenario. However, longer-term expansion will be limited by “restrictions on technological imports and the outflow of skilled labour”, it warned.

It said the country’s production capacities and labour resources had already been “nearly fully used, with utilisation close to 80 per cent”. Manufacturing, trade and agriculture are among the sectors facing the most severe labour shortages.

“Available production capacity is depleted,” CBR deputy governor Alexei Zabotkin told reporters on Thursday. “The pace of expansion is held back by sanctions barriers and by physical limitations on the output of the means of production. The economy needs additional labour for this as well,” he said, adding that labour shortages had “significantly worsened”.

To address the issue, Russian businesses have resorted to increasing wages. In the first quarter of 2024, nominal wages in Russia increased by 19.2 per cent. The growth slowed slightly in the second quarter to 17.4 per cent.

Rising wages, coupled with escalating budget expenditures, are fuelling inflation, which is expected to reach 6.5 to 7 per cent by the end of 2024, the CBR said. It also pinpointed “sanctions barriers in payments and logistics” that resulted in lower imports of goods into Russia.

The CBR forecasts inflation falling to 4 to 4.5 per cent in 2025 and stabilising around 4 per cent thereafter. Throughout this period, the CBR key interest rate is expected to remain in double digits, a significant shift from prewar levels when it had not exceeded 9.5 per cent for many years.

More at the link.

Oy vey:

the absolute state of this app 🫠 pic.twitter.com/k2yHYPMxWX

— Georgian Legion (@georgian_legion) August 30, 2024

Vovchansk, Kharkiv Oblast:

Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast has been reduced to rubble, with 90% of the city destroyed, the Governor said.

📷Suspilne pic.twitter.com/m7u8FfN38C

— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) August 30, 2024

This is what Putin and the Russians have planned for Kharkiv City, Kyiv, Lviv, and every other city, town, and village in Ukraine.

Kharkiv:

Lots of injured people in critical conditions. Amputations. Blood needed. Fucking horror show.
Lives ruined just like that.
Because of disgusting evil fucks who just can’t fuck off. https://t.co/pm4iv1RLfj

— Anastasiya Paraskevova (@UkrainianAna) August 30, 2024

I want to take a moment to thank the first responders, firemen in particular (since I had some experience with them personally too).
We are blessed (literally, look at the rainbow) to have them risk their lives to save ours.
Heroic people in every way. pic.twitter.com/fdfFB0vRz8

— Anastasiya Paraskevova (@UkrainianAna) August 30, 2024

I would like to once again invite @JakeSullivan46 to visit Kharkiv.

Explain to the families of those who burned alive in their own homes today how preventing it was “escalation.”

Explain to the parents of children bombed on the playground how saving them was “escalation.”

📸:… pic.twitter.com/CLyOSezAno

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) August 30, 2024

I would like to once again invite @JakeSullivan46 to visit Kharkiv.

Explain to the families of those who burned alive in their own homes today how preventing it was “escalation.”

Explain to the parents of children bombed on the playground how saving them was “escalation.”

📸: @GwaraMedia (subscribe to them for Kharkiv updates)

I would not hold my breath.

A poignant mural depicting a ‘Patriot’ missile system has appeared on the ruins of bombed-out by russia Epicenter shopping center in Kharkiv.

The artwork, a testament to the resilience of Kharkiv residents, expresses our deep appreciation for the international support provided… pic.twitter.com/4IFxDQTJfq

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) August 30, 2024

A poignant mural depicting a ‘Patriot’ missile system has appeared on the ruins of bombed-out by russia Epicenter shopping center in Kharkiv.

The artwork, a testament to the resilience of Kharkiv residents, expresses our deep appreciation for the international support provided to defend our city. It also serves as a plea for continued assistance as we strive to rebuild our lives and community in the face of war.

Kurahove:

A massive destruction of the russian AFVs 🔥

17 russian fighting vehicles attacked Ukrainian positions in the Kurakhove direction.
Only 4 of them managed to return. The other 13 were destroyed by ATGMs, FPV drones, artillery fire, and landmines.

📹: 46th Airmobile Brigade pic.twitter.com/A9ScXTQscP

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 30, 2024

Pokrovsk:

Newly mobilized, inexperienced troops “freeze…they don’t know what to do in real combat…turn and run at the first explosion,” said a lieutenant near Pokrovsk. Artillery units near Pokrovsk also highlighted a deficit in shells and mismatch in firepower. https://t.co/k1qsnxjaXO

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) August 30, 2024

The Financial Times has the details.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has come under a barrage of criticism from soldiers, lawmakers and military analysts over the rapid advances made by the Russian army in eastern Ukraine since Kyiv launched its bold incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Many Ukrainians celebrated their army’s invasion of Kursk on August 6, hoping the gamble would force Moscow to divert resources to the new front and swing the momentum of the war in Ukraine’s favour.

However, a breach in the frontline in the strategically important Donetsk region this week has triggered a backlash against the leadership in Kyiv, with critics arguing Ukraine’s positions were weakened by the redeployment of thousands of battle-hardened Ukrainian troops to the Kursk operation.

Russian forces are closing in on the strategically important city of Pokrovsk taking several nearby towns this week and forcing undermanned Ukrainian units to retreat from prepared defensive positions.

Pokrovsk is one of two key rail and road junctions in the Donetsk region and its loss would threaten the entire region’s logistics for Ukraine’s military, according to Frontelligence Insight, a Ukrainian analytical group.

Satellite imagery analysed by open-source investigators at the Finland-based Black Bird Group shows Russian forces now just 8km from Pokrovsk. In response, local authorities have ordered the evacuation of residents in the area.

Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst at the Kyiv-based Information Resistance group, called the situation on the eastern edge of Pokrovsk “a complete defensive failure”.

“It’s not the fault of ordinary soldiers holding positions,” he wrote on Telegram. “The problem lies with those who make decisions for these soldiers,” he added, pointing to Ukraine’s leadership.

Several soldiers in the area expressed concerns about the defences around Pokrovsk.

Zhenya, a Ukrainian soldier in the 93rd Mechanized Brigade who fought in the gruelling 10-month battle of Bakhmut last year, described a fast-deteriorating situation in Pokrovsk. In a candid assessment on X, he criticised the military’s command structure, citing systemic failures and inadequate responses to evolving battlefield conditions.

“Honestly, I have never seen anything like this. Everything is falling apart so quickly,” he warned. “Pokrovsk will fall much faster than Bakhmut did.”

Ukrainian troops this week pulled out of Novohrodivka, 8km south-east of Pokrovsk. The Centre for Defence Strategies (CDS), a Kyiv-based security think-tank, said the withdrawal indicated a shortage of defensive resources, despite Pokrovsk’s importance as a logistical hub.

Mariana Bezuhla, an MP and member of the defence committee in parliament, shared photos on Facebook from a visit last week to the frontline near Novohrodivka. She claimed they showed the path to Pokrovsk wide open.

“The trenches in front of Novohrodivka were empty. There was practically no Ukrainian army in the once 20,000-strong city,” she wrote in a scathing post.

Gen Oleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine’s top military commander, said in a statement on Thursday that he had visited the Pokrovsk area and was working “to strengthen the defence of our troops in the most difficult areas of the front, to provide the brigades with a sufficient amount of ammunition and other material and technical means”.

In the past three weeks, Moscow’s forces have quickly captured more than two-dozen towns and villages with minimal resistance, including the long-held stronghold of Niu-York.

Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, attributed the Russian gains to a shortage of experienced Ukrainian infantry and the diversion of resources to the Kursk offensive.

“Ukraine committed reserves to Kursk, leaving fewer options to plug gaps elsewhere. Some of the more experienced brigades have been replaced by newer, less experienced units,” Lee said.

Soldiers who were mobilised this summer following the Ukrainian government’s new conscription laws meant to fill Kyiv’s dwindling ranks have been sent into the fray with little training or experience.

“They freeze . . . they don’t know what to do in real combat,” said a lieutenant whose troops are on the frontline near Pokrovsk. Many “turn and run at the first explosion”.

Soldiers in artillery units near Pokrovsk also highlighted a deficit in shells and a severe mismatch in firepower compared to Russian forces.

“Our shells are running out. We just don’t have enough,” said an artillery commander, noting that many resources had been redirected north to Kursk. For about the past month, his unit has had one shell for every six to eight fired by the Russians.

More at the link including maps and other imagery.

The strategist’s dilemma is always how to balance risk versus reward. The Kursk offensive is a high risk course of action. If successful it could bring great reward, but that was not and is not guaranteed.

The Kursk cross border offensive:

HIMARS strikes on the Russian pontoon crossings over the Seym river in the Kursk region pic.twitter.com/2NNmm4eJ4d

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 30, 2024

“They filled their pockets and left us all behind,” residents of Sudzha, Kursk region of Russia, told about the local authorities and the so-called “evacuation” from the town.

The settlement is now under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who provide humanitarian aid to… https://t.co/wTaIDInPkA pic.twitter.com/f2VrUvsAf5

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 30, 2024

“They filled their pockets and left us all behind,” residents of Sudzha, Kursk region of Russia, told about the local authorities and the so-called “evacuation” from the town.

The settlement is now under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who provide humanitarian aid to the civilian population. This is very different from what Russia does to Ukrainian cities.

Locals complain that there was no coordinated evacuation from the town after the outbreak of hostilities, and officials simply fled, leaving people to fend for themselves.

📹: Donbas. Realii

That’s enough for tonight.

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— UkrARMY cats & dogs (@UAarmy_animals) August 24, 2024

Open thread!