The World Must Not Forget for a Single Day That Together, We Are Stronger Than Any Terrorist – Address by the President

25 August 2024 – 21:42

Dear Ukrainians!

All day today, the rubble in Kramatorsk was being cleared after a Russian missile strike. Among those injured were journalists, including a film crew from Reuters. Citizens of Ukraine, America and Britain. An ordinary city hotel was destroyed by a Russian Iskander missile – deliberately, purposefully. This strike injured seven people and took one life. My condolences to the family and friends. This is the daily Russian terror that continues because Russia still has the means to continue. Today, there were also Russian strikes on our Sumy region with the use of guided aerial bombs, as well as strikes on Kharkiv, Kherson, and Donetsk regions. And for all this, the world must not stop putting pressure on the terrorist state. For missile strikes, for guided aerial bombs, for assaults – for this entire war. Russia must be forced to seek peace. Therefore, sanctions against Russia and individuals associated with it must be fully enforced. Frozen Russian assets must be really used for defense against Russia as soon as possible. There is a G7 decision on 50 billion for Ukraine from Russian assets. And a real mechanism is needed so that these funds can be used to support our country and people this year already. We also need to ensure there are no delays in logistics for our defense, so that our warriors can act according to the needs of the front. Currently, we have some high-profile announcements of defense packages from our partners for Ukraine that have not been fully implemented for months. We also have agreements on air defense that are still being implemented. This is especially important with the new school year approaching. I thank all our partners who truly help, all the leaders who work with us to make our defense more reliable and our positions more secure. But time equals losses. The longer we have to wait, the more damage Russia will have time to inflict. All our talks with leaders, all negotiations are focused on this – on the speed and strength of joint decisions, on fulfilling our agreements. The world must not forget for a single day that together, we are stronger than any terrorist. But to achieve this, we must do truly everything to ensure the terrorist loses. I want to especially commend our Forces today that are holding Russia accountable – right now – with the forces we have and that we are constantly strengthening. All our units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the Defense Intelligence, the Security Service of Ukraine, who are working on our Ukrainian long-range capabilities. Everyone repelling Russian assaults on the frontlines, especially in the Donetsk region now. Everyone implementing a defense operation in the Kursk region. Thank you all, warriors! I also want to express my unwavering gratitude to all producers of our Ukrainian weapons, suppliers of all necessary components, developers – everyone truly working for Ukraine. Today, we already showcased our Palianytsia – our new missile-drone. And there will be more of such developments and weapons from us. But, of course, there are tasks that will be accomplished by Palianytsias and Neptunes, and there are tasks that can be carried out by ATACMS, Storm Shadows, SCALPs, and other weapons of partners.

I just spoke with Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi. We are advancing in the Kursk region – by one to three kilometers. We have taken control of two more settlements. Active operations are underway in another settlement. We are replenishing our “exchange fund.” Thank you! We also discussed our Donetsk region separately – our defensive actions. The most attention is on Novohrodivka and Vodiane, where the assaults are most intense. I am grateful to all our units for their resilience

And one more thing. Regarding those individuals who work against our state – traitors of Ukraine who assisted Russian aggression or justify it, who fled from Ukraine to evade responsibility – our state needs clear answers regarding such people. Clear accountability. All these “comrades” must get what they deserve, no matter where they hide or where they flee. I have scheduled a meeting for tomorrow with the heads of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies – Security Service, Interior Ministry, State Bureau of Investigation – as well as the heads of NABU, SAP, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General, and intelligence representatives. There are many issues that need to be discussed at this meeting, and conclusions that must be drawn.

Glory to Ukraine!

The cost and the reason:

A year ago on this day, @_juicefighter_ was killed in an air accident, along with two other Ukrainian pilots.

Andriy, as we know, was a passionate advocate of the Ukrainian acquisition of F-16 jets, which would open a new era in the history of Ukraine’s Air Force.

He had died… pic.twitter.com/75OvuEWOQg

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 25, 2024

A year ago on this day, @_juicefighter_ was killed in an air accident, along with two other Ukrainian pilots.

Andriy, as we know, was a passionate advocate of the Ukrainian acquisition of F-16 jets, which would open a new era in the history of Ukraine’s Air Force.

He had died just a bit more and a year before his dream came true the first and F-16s finally joined the defense of the Ukrainian skies.

Now Andriy’s mom Liliya was invited by the Air Force command to touch her late son’s dream.

Andryi ‘Juice’ Pilshchykov dreamed of flying F-16 over Ukrainian skies. A year after his passing, his mother sits in one, honoring his legacy. RIP, Juice pic.twitter.com/hsP2mlgTRc

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) August 25, 2024

Introducing Palianytsia — a first Ukrainian long-range rocket drone.

📹: @ZelenskyyUa pic.twitter.com/wyHVENGsQG

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 25, 2024

Since the US still won’t give Ukraine permission to use US made/supplied long range munitions or provide them, nor allow its allies and partners whose own long range munitions include US made components, the Ukrainians have made their own. Since the US had denied Ukraine the nails it needs, Ukraine has decided to make their own.

Let me generally describe what’s going to happen if, say, tomorrow, the U.S. administration lifts its absurd restrictions on the Ukrainian use of American (and not only American) tactical missiles on targets deeper within Russian territory, i.e. (yet another red line that the…

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 25, 2024

Let me generally describe what’s going to happen if, say, tomorrow, the U.S. administration lifts its absurd restrictions on the Ukrainian use of American (and not only American) tactical missiles on targets deeper within Russian territory, i.e. (yet another red line that the U.S. administration has marked for itself to try and reason with Vladimir Putin for the umpteenth time again).

1. Twitter and Telegram are tanked full of mind-blowing footage of Russian military air bases, logistics centers, munitions, and fuel depots devastated up to 300 kilometers deep in Russian territory.

2. Russian Z-channels on Telegram are absolutely puking blood and yelling HOW ARE WE TOLERATING THIS AGAIN WE GONNA LOSE THIS WAR AAARRRGGGHH.

3. Putin goes cough cough and gets incredibly interested in the daily problems of honey manufacturers in the Altai region, an official visit to which is widely reported on state propaganda TV. He personally has nothing to do with anything negative about the war; nothing unusual is happening to Oceania once again.

4. Dmitry Medvedev posts yet another alcoholic rampage on Telegram, calling Ukrainians Nazi subhuman swine. Then blacks out again until next time.

5. Jake Sullivan’s phone gets bombarded with messages from his contacts at the Russian embassy, all sending the same old magiс word “nukes”.

6. The Russian air force takes losses from new Ukrainian missile strikes, and Russian generals have to adapt to a new reality and pull aircraft out of the ATACMS effective range (including carriers of notorious gliding bombs), further stretch logistics, etc. etc. etc.

7. No more safe haven for the Russian military in its territory all along the Ukrainian border – a very crucial step has been made to effectively deny Russia’s very ability to wage its war on Ukraine instead of hopelessly trying to reason with the aggressor.

You know this is generally the way it would happen — because this is how things unfolded every single time with every single major decision to cross yet another self-restricting “red line” — and finally give Ukraine yet another instrument to win this war and bring peace back to us all.

HIMARS, armored vehicles, PATRIOTs… you name it. It’s a long list.

It’s time to get a grip finally.

Quite simply, the Biden administration is not going to provide this permission. There will, however, be consquences for the US. When this war finally ends the US may find that it needs Ukraine as an ally and partner far more than Ukraine needs the US.

The world has now watched the Biden administration be repeatedly embarrassed by Bibi Netanyahu and his extremist governing coalition. The most recent example was yesterday when someone leaked the tapes of Bibi’s horrendous meeting with former women hostages and their families. In these exchanges Bibi makes it clear that as far as he’s concerned there is no ceasefire deal on the table.

🧵
🟢Netanyahu: WTF deal are you even talking about.
🟡They’re dying!
🟢There’s no deal. Joe Biden is lying to your face.
🟣 Fuck no, I’m not signing a deal feeing 12 hostages. pic.twitter.com/n7xZ0xB6Vk

— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@NTarnopolsky) August 24, 2024

At the same time the world has watched the Biden administration vacillate, hesitate, and prevaricate in regard to Ukraine’s existential self defense against Russia’s genocidal re-invasion.

https://t.co/w37yt97O34

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 25, 2024

From The Washington Post:

Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion keeps crossing President Vladimir Putin’s red lines.

Kyiv’s lightning incursion into Kursk in western Russia this month slashed through the reddest line of all — a direct ground assault on Russia — yet Putin’s response has so far been strikingly passive and muted, in sharp contrast to his rhetoric earlier in the war.

On Day One of the invasion in February 2022, Putin warned that any country that stood in Russia’s way would face consequences “such as you have never seen in your entire history,” a threat that seemed directed at countries that might arm Ukraine.

If Russia’s territorial integrity were threatened, “we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. It’s not a bluff,” he said a few months later in September. “The citizens of Russia can be sure that the territorial integrity of our Motherland, our independence and freedom will be ensured — I emphasize this again — with all the means at our disposal,” making a clear reference to Russia’s nuclear weapons.

But Ukraine’s punch through Russian defenses in the first foreign invasion since World War II exposed Russia’s military flaws and laid bare Moscow’s apparently illusory red lines.

Now some are again questioning the centerpiece of Washington’s Ukraine strategy: a slow, calibrated supply of weapons to Ukraine to avoid escalating tensions with Russia that critics argue has dashed Kyiv’s chances of driving Russia out and resulted in a grinding war of attrition with massive casualties.

Ukraine’s Kursk incursion “proved the Russians are bluffing,” said Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former Ukrainian intelligence and defense official, now an associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank in London. “It shuts down all of the voices of the pseudo experts … the anti-escalation guys.”

The attack was “risky,” he continued, “but it sent a very powerful signal and helped us change the narrative about Ukraine — that it is not able to win — and on the Russian red lines. Both narratives have been destroyed.”

Ukraine’s attacks have repeatedly crossed ostensible red lines: sinking Russia’s Black Sea flagship, Moskva; the 2022 Crimea Bridge blast; Storm Shadow missile attacks on the fleet headquarters in Sevastopol; the 2023 drone attacks on the Kremlin and Moscow; the assassinations of propagandists on Russian territory; and attacks on strategic air bases hundreds of miles from Ukraine.

The Western hardware being used by Ukrainian forces, HIMARS, tanks, ATACMS and F-16s, were all once red lines, too.

When Ukrainian drones struck Moscow in May 2023, hitting a Kremlin dome and closing major airports, Putin downplayed the problem, analyst Tatiana Stanovaya wrote at the time in an analysis for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Within a few months, it seemed that the Kremlin’s red lines had either never existed or had become extremely mobile.” The Kremlin claimed to be unperturbed, she wrote, “even if it flies in the face of common sense.”

It was to become a striking pattern, yet the U.S.-led policy on military aid to Ukraine has remained timid, according to many analysts.

Boris Bondarev, a Geneva-based former Russian diplomat who resigned in 2022 to protest the war, said in an interview that Washington’s fear of triggering a direct military conflict with Russia had crippled the U.S. response, leaving its goals in the war unclear and projecting American weakness to Putin and other global adversaries.

“When you put your enemy’s red lines, so to speak, as the crucial factor of your own strategy, you will always be on the losing side,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday used the Kursk incursion to argue against Washington’s restrictions that bar Kyiv’s use of Western weapons to strike deeper at military targets in Russia — such as the air bases Russia uses for its devastating glide bomb attacks.

“We are witnessing a significant ideological shift — the naive, illusory concept of so-called red lines regarding Russia, which dominated the assessment of the war by some partners, has crumbled apart these days,” Zelensky said.

While Ukraine’s Kursk incursion has changed calculations, it has not shifted the fundamental balance in the war, with Moscow continuing its focus on eastern Ukraine, closing in on the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, a key logistical hub that could pave the way for further Russian advances if it falls.

More at the link.

What the world has witnessed is US strategic malpractice and national security incoherence.

Weapons free! Make it hot!

pic.twitter.com/B3bTONu4dC

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 25, 2024

Tatarigami has an assessment of what the Belarusians are actually doing along their border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian MFA stated that Belarusian armed forces are concentrating a significant number of personnel, weapons, and equipment near Ukraine’s northern border under the guise of exercises

🧵It’s still early to draw any definitive conclusions, but a few points should be considered:

2/ In February 2024, Frontelligence Insight and Rochan Consulting released an analysis of the Belarusian military’s readiness, concluding that its combat units are typically manned at only 30-40% capacity, relying heavily on mobilization, with the rest filled during mobilization

3/ This suggests that if Belarus was seriously preparing for a major invasion, significant mobilization efforts would be seen. For fairness, this doesn’t rule out the possibility of an attack; it’s more about the potential scale of attack if ever happens 

4/ Russia has also increased its troop presence in the eastern part of Bryansk Oblast since spring, near the Homel Oblast area, where Belarusian troops are reportedly conducting “exercises.” It definitely adds an uncomfortable dimension to the situation. 

5/ Whether this is a provocation to draw Ukrainian forces from the frontlines, a threat from Putin via Lukashenko, or a response to rumored increased Ukrainian presence remains to be seen. However, it would be surprising if these limited forces could make any serious impact

The Kursk cross border offensive:

Energy is in high demand in Russia’s Kursk region these days. pic.twitter.com/VO9KyJ5Kkr

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 25, 2024

/21. The last, third, bridge in Karyz and a pontoon river crossing next to it. https://t.co/6ctCRQKFe0

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 25, 2024

A boat can also be seen, with 2 improvised ‘piers’ on the right and the left banks of the Seym river. pic.twitter.com/JBY97ML6vs

— Mark Krutov (@kromark) August 25, 2024

https://t.co/OooItD29bt

— Mark Krutov (@kromark) August 25, 2024

“I don’t have a positive attitude towards the [Russian] government at all, because all their power is for themselves, and no one thinks about the people. It’s good that you brought us food and water. And you let us go shopping and everywhere else. The Ukrainian military are good… pic.twitter.com/Qut1XP6B7S

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 25, 2024

“I don’t have a positive attitude towards the [Russian] government at all, because all their power is for themselves, and no one thinks about the people. It’s good that you brought us food and water. And you let us go shopping and everywhere else. The Ukrainian military are good guys. They took us to the stores in their cars. They are good guys. Very good.”

Residents of the city of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region can walk around the city, they are not detained or restricted in their movements.

📹: RBK Ukraine

Kherson Oblast:

#Kherson 10:00 am, Russian drone attacked a gas station in Kherson

💔 2 injured (men, 24, 53)

— Zarina Zabrisky 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@ZarinaZabrisky) August 25, 2024

In recent months, Russians have increasingly terrorized peaceful residents of Kherson with drone strikes. Russian drone operators are flying into the city to attack random passersby and passing cars. And with each day this becomes an even more common occurrence. As a result, it… https://t.co/0kFnUNOsRb

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 25, 2024

In recent months, Russians have increasingly terrorized peaceful residents of Kherson with drone strikes. Russian drone operators are flying into the city to attack random passersby and passing cars. And with each day this becomes an even more common occurrence. As a result, it has become much more dangerous to be on the city streets.

The tweet above is supposed to be a quote tweet, but as has become more and more frequent, X’s code does not allow tweets by Ukrainians that describe and/or have imagery/video of Russian atrocities to embed. In this case it was a blurred photo of an injured Ukrainian who was working in the store that Russia targeted in Kherson. Here is both the Ukrainian and machine translated English of the original tweet from Ukrainian journalist Ivan Antypenko.

Сьогодні вночі росіяни скинули вибухівку з дрона на АЗС ОККО у Таврійському мікрорайоні. Поранені двоє працівників. Вночі сюди залетіла група ворожих БПЛА. Це дуже погана тенденція, адже зона ураження ворожими дронами розширюється фактично на все місто. Тред.

Last night, Russians dropped explosives from a drone on an OKKO filling station in the Tavriyskiy neighborhood. Two employees were wounded. At night, a group of enemy UAVs flew here. This is a very bad trend, as the enemy drone strike zone is expanding to virtually the entire city. Tred.

And here’s the text of the also censored next tweet in the thread:

З березня 2023 року внаслідок атак безпілотників на звільненій території Херсонської області загинуло 33 цивільних (1 дитина) та 322 – поранено (7 дітей).

Since March 2023, 33 civilians (1 child) have been killed and 322 injured (7 children) as a result of drone attacks in the liberated territory of Kherson region.

And the one after that:

Удари по цивільних на Херсонщині значно посилилися весною та влітку 2024-го. З середини липня по середину серпня противник вбив вісім та поранив 110 мешканців області тільки з використанням дронів. Всього було близько 3300 таких атак.

Attacks on civilians in the Kherson region intensified significantly in the spring and summer of 2024. From mid-July to mid-August, the enemy killed eight and injured 110 residents of the region using drones alone. In total, there were about 3,300 such attacks.

More from Kherson Oblast:

#Kherson Today, Russian drones

🔴 Injured, men, 24, 53, 21, 44

🔴killed: 1 man

anti-aircraft missile

🔴 man, 51
🔴 woman, 68

— Zarina Zabrisky 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@ZarinaZabrisky) August 25, 2024

#Kherson Russian drones drop explosives on an oncological hospital daily.

They chase medical staff, patients, target diesel generators used for power supply during blackouts, also caused by the Russian attacks.

An interview with the hospital director Iryna Sokur. #DroneAttacks pic.twitter.com/8Lix8xTS7t

— Zarina Zabrisky 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@ZarinaZabrisky) August 25, 2024

Pretty sure this is the Pokrovsk front given that’s where the 47th was operating:

M1 Abram’s of the 47th Brigade opens fire on the building with Russian infantry.https://t.co/7ixsE82jIO pic.twitter.com/apeGqCRHhS

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 25, 2024

Kharkiv:

Explosion in Kharkiv ‼️ Distant, probably outside of the city

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) August 25, 2024

Ukrainian media, both in Ukrainian and English, must improve their regional reporting. They are increasingly resembling local Kyiv media, which limits global awareness of events across Ukraine. Consequently, international media rarely cover these regions unless we die en mass.…

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) August 25, 2024

Ukrainian media, both in Ukrainian and English, must improve their regional reporting. They are increasingly resembling local Kyiv media, which limits global awareness of events across Ukraine. Consequently, international media rarely cover these regions unless we die en mass. But not too often, because if often it is not news anymore.

And we got bombed the same night by the way. Still not breaking.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) August 25, 2024

Here’s the full text of the first tweet from above:

And if you ask me, what happened in Kharkiv over the past two days deserves more than just local news—it deserves a goddamn Times cover. When people in a city that gets bombed before the sirens even sound, a city everyone was burying alive this entire spring, a city often cursed by its own, take to the streets to dance, sing, and live, and declare they love for their contry, against ten million odds, knowing they could be vaporized by a russian missile at any moment but still they go… that’s a real fucking miracle.

Tonight, the russian army struck Kharkiv and Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region with 3 missiles.

In the Slobidsky district of Kharkiv, a residential building was directly hit. Six people were injured. Five private houses were completely destroyed, and 20 more had damaged facades,… pic.twitter.com/F2AjkJxsXK

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) August 25, 2024

Tonight, the russian army struck Kharkiv and Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region with 3 missiles.

In the Slobidsky district of Kharkiv, a residential building was directly hit. Six people were injured. Five private houses were completely destroyed, and 20 more had damaged facades, broken windows.

In Industrialny district of Kharkiv, a strike hit an industrial zone. There were no casualties.

In Chuhuiv, an outbuilding in a private residential area was hit. Five people were injured, including two children.

Huliaipole, Zaporizhzhia Oblast:

Yesterday, the Russian army destroyed the Nestor Makhno museum located in his birthplace Huliaipole.

Makhno was a Ukrainian anarchist and leader of the peasant movement 1917-22. pic.twitter.com/x8tl2jKZ9o

— Taras Bilous (@ahatanhel) August 25, 2024

Proletarsk oil depot, Rostov Oblast, Russia

It’s still burning:

/15.Proletarsk oil depot, day 8. https://t.co/WGPdvZ5x7c

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 25, 2024

Comparison of @planet satellite images of the Proletarsk oil depot taken on August 23rd and today, August 25th. pic.twitter.com/PUXTqGDtuX

— Mark Krutov (@kromark) August 25, 2024

Voronezh Oblast, Russia:

Russian ammunition depot in Voronezh region after Ukrainian attack. https://t.co/0M2TUj8P5I https://t.co/ip2xSZts5f pic.twitter.com/tcP6IkSiGv

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 25, 2024

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

First some adjacent material from the Ukrainian MOD.

A little friend is under the protection of a Ukrainian warrior.

📹: @United24media pic.twitter.com/XPPa6k2lEu

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 25, 2024

Oops 😁 pic.twitter.com/fitzkHA8aN

— Patron (@PatronDsns) August 25, 2024

Open thread!