We Are Doing Everything to Enhance Protection of the Sky – Address by the President of Ukraine

21 April 2024 – 17:33

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

A few key points for today.

Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi has just delivered a report on the hottest spots of the frontline. Chasiv Yar and other key directions in the Donetsk region: Pokrovsk, Kurakhove. Also, Kupyansk direction in the Kharkiv region. Our positions, our results. I am grateful to every soldier, every commander, to all our combat units that are truly efficient and resilient. Today, the Commander-in-Chief also reported on the destruction of targets in the occupied territory – the operations carried out and the preparation of planned ones. The Russian army has to suffer losses every day, and every such day of Russian losses brings us closer to the much-needed peace. I also spoke with Defense Minister Umerov, mainly about air defense. We are doing everything possible, contacting all available partners to enhance the protection of the sky by increasing the number and quality of air defense systems at the disposal of our warriors. Every leader and country assisting us in this are real life savers.

And of course, we are now continuing our contacts with the American side. At all necessary levels. The Senate’s prompt decision in support of the Ukrainian package is crucial for us now. So, at the level of the Office, at the level of our diplomats, we are actively working to ensure a positive political outcome in the quick approval of the package, as well as a positive outcome in the package itself – so that it contains exactly what our warriors at the front are waiting for. The time between political decisions and the actual destruction of the enemy at the front, between the approval of the package and the strength of our guys, should be as short as possible. And the strength should be the one that can really change the situation on the frontline. Frontline air defense is as crucial as the protection of our cities and villages. Our long-range capabilities. Our artillery. Our ability to expand the area of our control. Every day is important now – important in communication, in politics, in logistics. And I am grateful to all our friends in the United States, to each of our partners in the world who, like us in Ukraine, understand common opportunities and common tasks. Together, using all methods, we must stop Russian terror, limit Russia’s war potential, and force Putin to acknowledge the obvious: this war will gain him nothing.

I thank everyone who is with Ukraine and in Ukraine! Thank you to all who fight for our state and people, to everyone who helps, and to everyone who contributes to Ukrainian strength and protects lives.

Glory to Ukraine!

He also sat for an interview with Kirsten Welker on NBC’s Meet the Press. Here’s the video:

Ukraine faces tough weeks ahead in its fight to stem Russian battlefield advances despite this weekend’s passage of a long-awaited US funding bill, according to Ukrainian officials, soldiers and military analysts.
Story with @maxseddon.https://t.co/YjS9x4PYnN via @FT

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) April 21, 2024

From The Financial Times:

Ukraine faces tough weeks ahead in its fight to stem Russian battlefield advances despite this weekend’s passage of a long-awaited US funding bill, according to Ukrainian officials, soldiers and military analysts.

The US House of Representatives passed the $60bn military aid package on Saturday night after months of delay that have left Ukraine short of critical weaponry in the face of Russian advances.

American weapons and munitions will start flowing into Ukraine within the coming days if the bill is approved by the US Senate this week, as is widely expected.

“The time between political decisions and actual damage to the enemy on the front lines, between the package’s approval and our warriors’ strengthening, must be as short as possible,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Sunday evening address.

Western and Ukrainian officials said some of the material assistance, including arms and ammunition, was already packaged in depots in Poland and elsewhere in Europe and ready to be transported.

But the delivery of the US aid is unlikely to dramatically alter Kyiv’s situation on the frontline, according to Ukrainian officials, soldiers and military analysts.

Commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky warned this month that the situation had “significantly worsened” after Russian forces stepped up offensive actions along several points on the 1,000km frontline since capturing the industrial city of Avdiivka in February.

While far-right Republicans in the House prevented a package of military aid being passed in recent months, Russia’s army was able to strengthen its hold on the roughly 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory it occupied and seize the initiative on the battlefield.

Troops on the frontline told the Financial Times during a visit this month that they were barely holding on under relentless Russian attacks to which they were unable to respond in kind.

But the influx of arms, particularly much-needed artillery shells and munitions for air defence systems “will help to slow down the Russian advance, but not stop it”, one senior Ukrainian official told the FT on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about the battlefield situation.

And Ukrainians are under no illusions that the American assistance will see the country through to the end of the war.

“Such a large aid package may be the last this year. Moreover, there is a fairly high probability that all subsequent aid packages for Ukraine will be much smaller in size,” said a former Ukrainian officer who operates the analytical group Frontelligence Insight.

“The aid provided by the US buys us and the European Union time, about one year,” the group’s assessment said.

Rob Lee, a military analyst and senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program, said that even with the new American assistance, “Russia will still have an artillery advantage, it just won’t be as great”.

Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a Moscow defence think-tank, said the benefit to Ukraine from advanced US weaponry would depend on the quantity of arms supplied.

The US bill only lists financing to buy the weapons, not how much of each system Washington will supply.

“Successful combined operations with fighters and anti-air might significantly cancel out Russia’s mass glide-bombing campaign. If Ukraine doesn’t use the key systems en masse, there won’t be a significant influence on the front lines,” Pukhov said.

The US assistance package, which is certain to provide artillery shells, the senior Ukrainian official said, “does not contain a silver bullet”.

But Andriy Zagorodnyuk, director of the Kyiv-based security think-tank Centre for Defence Strategies and a former defence minister of Ukraine, said he believed the US aid was “a bullet enough” to kill Russia’s momentum.

But this will address only one major challenge facing Ukraine, he admitted. Kyiv faces another big challenge: manpower.

“I think manpower may be the key to how the war unfolds in 2025,” said Lee.

Russia is at present able to mobilise about 30,000 soldiers each month, according to US and Ukrainian estimates, or enough to at least cover its massive battlefield loss.

Ukraine has taken steps to try to alleviate the situation. This month, Zelenskyy signed a law lowering the mobilisation age to 25 from 27, while Ukraine’s parliament passed a new bill on conscription that is aimed at replenishing its exhausted and dwindling forces. The US aid package will buy some time to address the manpower shortage, analysts said.

Much more at the link.

Після прийняття законопроекту в Палаті представників США щодо допомоги Україні, він направиться в Сенат, і після затвердження, Україна отримає критично необхідну військову допомогу. Неодмінно це досить важлива новина, але є декілька важливих нюансів, про які необхідно поговорити.…

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) April 21, 2024

Here’s the machine translation into English. It’s grim reading:

After passing the bill in the US House of Representatives on aid to Ukraine, it will go to the Senate, and after approval, Ukraine will receive critically needed military aid. Certainly, this is quite important news, but there are several important nuances that need to be discussed.

From repeated frank conversations with both analysts of American think tanks and lobbyists in the United States, I concluded that such a large aid package may be the last this year. Moreover, there is a fairly high probability that all subsequent aid packages for Ukraine will be much smaller in size. One such representative has said frankly (published with his permission) that we should no longer expect funding for major operations, as was the case in preparation for an offensive operation in 2023.

The United States will continue to develop production and supply Ukraine with 155 mm ammunition, GMLRS, as well as self-defense and air defense equipment. However, this is not enough to achieve military parity with Russia, not to mention successful army-level offensive operations, for which it is necessary to replenish dozens of brigades with both equipment and personnel. I want to repeat that this does not mean that the States will stop helping at all, but if you look at it frankly, such volumes will only be enough so that the front does not crumble.

I am writing this not in order to amuse treasonists and supporters of conspiracy theories, but so that we can correctly assess the situation – if during this year Ukraine and the EU will not be able to reach sufficient levels of military production or alternative supply (for example, through purchases from third countries at the expense of partners or frozen Russian assets), in 2025 we may find ourselves in a very difficult situation.
Although Ukraine is objectively doing a lot to establish military production, this may not be enough if the US continues to reduce supplies.

The aid provided by the US buys us and the European Union time, about 1 year. During this time, the Ukrainian society and the authorities will have to solve the question of how to provide the units with both weapons and personnel in order not to end up in 2025 where we found ourselves this winter.

🇪🇪🇸🇪🇨🇿 Estonia, Sweden and Czechia urge Europe not to relax after US vote on aid to Ukraine https://t.co/3mk6OsSMB8

— Arnaud Castaignet (@arnocast) April 21, 2024

 

From Ukrainska Pravda:

Some European leaders have used the US vote on aid to Ukraine to urge Europe not to be complacent and not to lose momentum in stepping up efforts to produce arms and ammunition.

Source: European Pravda

Details: Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas welcomed the House of Representatives’ vote on the Ukraine aid bill, noting that helping Ukraine is the best way to protect ourselves.

“Hope this vote encourages all allies to look through their warehouses and do more,” Kallas tweeted.

“But now is also the time to remember that the EU now have to increase our own production of armaments, ammunition and supplies to aid Ukraine on a long term basis,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström tweeted.

“Tonight’s vote shows the necessity of this. We have to do our own homework as well,” he added.

His Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavský, echoed this sentiment, saying: “But Europe must do more too. Our hesitation and indecision in effectively supporting Ukraine just motivate the Kremlin to further aggression that costs more lives.”

A decisive test for Europe will take place on Monday when 27 EU foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg to plan future military assistance to Kyiv. It is planned that Ukraine’s foreign and defence ministers will join the discussion remotely.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that before the weekend, European NATO allies had vowed to increase supplies of ready-made air defence systems to Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the leading official behind the latest push to send additional air defence systems to Kyiv, welcomed the US legislative move.

“This is a day of optimism for Ukraine + European security,” Baerbock tweeted.

The Georgians:

Legendary piece of history.

pic.twitter.com/uhtrAkGI8Q

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) April 21, 2024

As the former Cultural Advisor at III Corps, I approve of this:

Video from Madyar showing them being dropped from UAVs. 2/https://t.co/WQzGBcwIvU pic.twitter.com/7FCH1Gz7M9

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 21, 2024

Russian occupied Crimea:

Another bad day for the russian Black Sea Fleet.

Today, the Ukrainian Navy hit the russian salvage ship "Kommuna" in temporarily occupied Crimea. The nature of the damage is being verified.

Despite being the oldest ship in service with the russian Black Sea Fleet, Kommuna is… pic.twitter.com/xrJtZtvN4i

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 21, 2024

Another bad day for the russian Black Sea Fleet.

Today, the Ukrainian Navy hit the russian salvage ship “Kommuna” in temporarily occupied Crimea. The nature of the damage is being verified.

Despite being the oldest ship in service with the russian Black Sea Fleet, Kommuna is the only rescue vessel of that class on the Black Sea. Its purpose is deep-sea work, raising submarines and sunken cargo.

/1. About an hour ago there was an air raid alert in Sevastopol. A strike was reported (presumably a single missile was launched). Now a video has appeared of something burning in the Sevastopol bay area. pic.twitter.com/G2Q6uf415X

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 21, 2024

/3. Location from where the video was filmed (44.6239266, 33.5531007). Missile/missile fragments hit Kommuna submarine salvage ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the world's oldest active duty naval vessel (Launched 17 November 1913). https://t.co/5sZyPUQiFc pic.twitter.com/LHE7pFCsFE

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 21, 2024

Avdiivka:

Video from Avdiivka, shot from a helicopter.

This is what the Russians call "liberation". They are liberating our territories from life. pic.twitter.com/8RRTgzGBfl

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 21, 2024

Novomykhailivka:

.@Deepstate_UA's map shows Russian forces have captured Novomykhailivka and advanced south of the town, have seized a foothold in Ocheretyne, and have made small gains south of Pervomaiske.https://t.co/vNgKZoJhPYhttps://t.co/4rBy0OrerB https://t.co/VTRat8EV9T pic.twitter.com/IqyRVanytx

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 21, 2024

“We took Novomikhailovka,” says the Russian occupier. However, he and his squad must leave immediately after the photo-op with the flag as it’s too dangerous.

So this is how the “second army of the world” “took the village of Novomikhailovka,” losing thousands of people killed… pic.twitter.com/0KJ6M43Phc

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) April 21, 2024

“We took Novomikhailovka,” says the Russian occupier. However, he and his squad must leave immediately after the photo-op with the flag as it’s too dangerous.

So this is how the “second army of the world” “took the village of Novomikhailovka,” losing thousands of people killed and more than three hundred pieces of equipment destroyed after months of fighting.

Not much joy on his face.

 

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron tweets tonight, so here is some adjacent material.

Call sign "Babay" (Bogeyman) with his fluffy comrade.

📷: 56th Motorized Brigade pic.twitter.com/0TZLCmSRdC

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 21, 2024

«This is Matviiushka, our psychologist. When you feel bad, he comes and lies on top of you and starts to comfort you,»
Ukrainian Defender shares.

📹: Hromadske pic.twitter.com/5qLu9egx5r

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 21, 2024

Open thread!