We are doing everything to provide our warriors with more opportunities, more weapons; and we will ensure this – address by the President of Ukraine

28 March 2024 – 20:49

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

The key points for today.

I introduced the new Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine to the FIS staff – it is a combat general, Oleh Ivashchenko. He is an experienced and strong person. The analytical potential of our intelligence is quite high, and now we have to enhance its operational capabilities. More information and opportunities for influence are needed.

Russia spends billions and billions of dollars each year on influence operations in other countries. They spread chaos, undermine the work of established institutions, fund disinformation, and bribe civil and political leaders. This concerns different regions of the planet – sensitive regions. Africa, various parts of Asia, and Europe, which is particularly vulnerable to destabilization provoked and fueled by Putin’s system. Both North and Latin America are also targets of Russian intelligence and disruptive activities. In many ways, this influence works against our country and our defense.

Obviously, we cannot match Russia’s resources, including financial ones. But Ukrainians are capable of defeating Russia with their courage, determination, and ideas. The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine should considerably increase its activities in fulfilling the institutional tasks. On the other hand, the robust work of such an organization cannot be cheap. And this is now the task for the government as a whole and the Ministry of Finance: we need to seek and find a financial basis for the work of our intelligence – to expand funding for specific projects, for specific goals, and for the development of the foreign intelligence system in general.

The second point for today.

There was a lot of international communication. We spoke with Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. We discussed what is crucial now for the protection of life and international security. I informed him of the situation at the front, of the continued Russian attacks on our cities – their terror is only getting worse and can only be stopped by the physical force of our defense. Ukraine is grateful for the support of the United States and every American who shares our belief that freedom must never lose. And it is very important that the Congress maintains its leadership so that the defense of freedom remains a unifying idea both within countries and for the global majority. Right now, it depends on our determination, our joint actions, what the world of our children will be.

Today, we discussed exactly the same things with the President of the French National Assembly, who is on a visit to Ukraine, and I am grateful for her attention to our country and to the way Ukrainians endure this time and this battle. We discussed the prospects of how we can speed up a just end to this war and the expulsion of the Russian occupiers. I thanked the French parliament for its endorsement of the security agreement concluded with President Macron. Of course, we also discussed Emmanuel’s recent security proposals. Anything that enhances protection against Russian aggression and limits Russia’s war potential truly contributes to peace in Europe. I am grateful to all our partners who understand this and help Ukraine.

And today I met with a delegation of MEPs from the Renew Europe group. This is an important European political group. Elections to the European Parliament are coming up, and all of us in Ukraine should get used to the fact that this process is important for Ukraine as well. Of course, we talked about support, about the current threats, and about what we can achieve together in Europe by defending our countries, but also common values, and therefore the security of all Europeans.

And one more thing.

Today, Defense Minister Umerov made a report on the defense packages that we are getting and that we are working on with our partners. We are doing everything to provide our warriors with more opportunities, more weapons. And we will ensure this.

Thank you to everyone who helps! Glory to everyone who defends Ukraine and destroys the occupier.

Glory to Ukraine!

https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1773417215074664627

https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1773421462533091485

“We need help now”: President Zelenskyy says a major Russian offensive is expected in late May or June.

In an interview with CBS News, the President shared that the AFU managed to contain the Russians during the winter months and “stabilize the situation.” However, Ukraine is not ready to defend against another major offensive.

The president met with journalists in Sumy region, whose border areas suffer from Russian shellings.

“Usually, when they attack with artillery and destroy villages, after that, they always try to occupy them. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. That’s why we have to prepare,” Zelenskyy said.

The president said that if Ukraine does not stand, Kazakhstan will be next, then the Baltic states, Poland, and Germany – “at least half of Germany.” Therefore, Zelenskyy called on Western partners to provide Ukraine with more Patriot missile systems and artillery.

“Let’s be honest, the money that Congress appropriates, the administration, in most cases, 80% of that money – well, at least more than 75% – stays in the United States. Those munitions are coming to us, but the production happens there, and the money stays in the U.S., and the taxes stay in the U.S.,” he said.

President Zelenskyy said that the war in Gaza has reduced attention to the war in Ukraine, and Putin is actively making use of it. However, this is not the dictator’s only tool. According to him, Putin is using the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall in an attempt to unite his society and “justify that Ukraine does not exist.”

 

https://twitter.com/rustem_umerov/status/1773373775066681504

Addressed the extraordinary Ukraine- @NATO Council meeting, which was held at Ukraine’s request.

The primary focus was on russia’s recent massive air strikes and the necessity of strengthening Ukraine’s air defense.

The total explosive power of combined air attacks on Ukraine since the beginning of the year exceeds 9 kilotons. Only 3% of those russian missiles, drones, and guided bombs hit military targets, while 97% struck civilian infrastructure. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that missile and loitering munition attacks caused 712 of the 1,804 civilian casualties verified by the UN during the past 3 months.

Provided an in-depth overview of the urgent air defense needs of Ukraine.

The support of partners in this matter is crucial. It will save thousands of innocent lives.

The more russian missiles are shot down in Ukrainian skies, the less threat they pose to NATO member states that border Ukraine.

Germany:

https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1773360701643378718

Great news from Germany 🔥
A new package of German military aid provides:
◾️5 Warthog repair and recovery vehicles
◾️9 Warthog command vehicles
◾️6 Wisent 1 mine clearing tanks
◾️2 Beaver bridge-laying tanks
◾️1 Bergepanzer 2 armored recovery vehicle
◾️1 Dachs armored engineer vehicle
◾️3 border protection vehicles
◾️6 Zetros tankers
◾️9 mine ploughs
◾️14 VECTOR reconnaissance drones
◾️30 RQ-35 HEIDRUN reconnaissance drones
◾️5 anti-drone sensors and jammers
◾️180 RF 360 fieldkits – drone detection systems
◾️1 Satcom surveillance systems
◾️330 IR cameras
◾️Ammunition for LEOPARD 2 A6
◾️18,000 rounds 155mm ammunition
◾️2,056 RGW 90 Matador man-portable anti-tank weapons
◾️24,000 rounds 40mm ammunition
◾️70 GMG grenade launchers
◾️3,000 camouflage nets
◾️2,000 ponchos
◾️2 emergency power generators

Thank you for your steadfast support!
The power of unity brings victory closer!
🇺🇦🤝🇩🇪
@BMVg_Bundeswehr

Czechia:

https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1773472107646668940

⚡️Participants in the Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine outside Europe have signed an agreement under which Kyiv will receive one million rounds of ammunition.

This was reported by Corriere della Sera, citing its own sources.

At first, it was assumed that 800,000 shells would be purchased: 500,000 155 mm shells and 300,000 122 mm shells, but Czech officials found another 200,000 shells.

“It is not known to which enterprises exactly the requests were addressed, although rumors point in particular to South Korea, Turkey, and possibly South Africa,” the newspaper said.

In addition, according to Corriere della Sera, Ukraine may receive the first batches of ammunition not in June, as the Czech government has previously publicly stated, but as early as April.

A total of 15 countries have joined the Czech initiative, according to the article, including Germany, France, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, Poland and Canada. Not all of them have publicly announced exactly how much they have contributed to the purchase of shells.

Source: https://corriere.it/esteri/24_marzo_28/praga-chiuse-trattative-milione-proiettili-kiev-15-paesi-ue-non-c-l-italia-b97ebfc8-ecf3-11ee-9b2a-e24dadf21a23.shtml

Washington DC:

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1773498387595173937

Interesting chapter from Alexander Bick who led the NSC’s Russia-Ukraine Tiger Team on the Biden administration’s thinking during the Russian buildup:

“Over the fall, the administration was trying to balance two contradictory objectives—to ensure that Ukraine had the capabilities to defend itself, while avoiding any steps that might increase the likelihood of an invasion or affix blame on the United States. As Colin Kahl, then under secretary of defense for policy, later put it, ‘we didn’t want to inadvertently speed up the Russian clock, incentivize Putin, or give him a pretext to make a decision he had not made. Us leaning too far forward could create dynamics either within the alliance or as we were trying to build world opinion against the Russians that made us look like we were the provocateurs.'”
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/oa_edited_volume/chapter/3881922

I clicked  the link and gave the chapter a read. I think the excerpt below contains the really important information: (emphasis mine)

Another urgent task was to articulate a list of strategic objectives to guide our plans. Naturally, high-level policy documents on Russia and Ukraine from earlier in the administration had neither foreseen nor developed objectives specific to a full-scale invasion scenario. To develop a coherent plan, we needed the equivalent of “commander’s intent.” The closest thing we had was a list of objectives the Joint Staff had developed for Chairman Milley that he shared with the president during the Oval Office meeting in October. In a later interview, Milley recounted these as: (1) avoid a kinetic conflict between the US military and NATO with Russia, (2) contain the war inside the geographic boundaries of Ukraine, (3) strengthen and maintain NATO unity, and (4) empower Ukraine and give it the means to fight.21 Using these as a starting point, the team developed a more comprehensive list that encompassed our broader diplomatic, humanitarian, and other objectives, including to ensure that Ukraine emerged from the war as a democratic, independent, and sovereign state. This list was reviewed and approved by the Deputies Committee and would guide planning going forward.

Did you catch what is missing here in the discussion of the development of the US’s strategic objectives to guide planning on how to respond when Russia re-invaded Ukraine? There’s nothing there about empowering Ukraine to win. Nor is there anything there about ensuring that Ukraine emerged from the war with all of its territory. This confirms what I assessed was driving the Biden administration’s policy and strategy towards supporting Ukraine. Specifically, that the policy is not for Ukraine to win, nor for it to regain its occupied territories. What is articulated above, which are the strategic objectives the Biden administration developed in regard to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s genocidal re-invasion, makes it clear that the US’s policy is not to see Ukraine win, nor to see it emerge from this war with all of its territory. We now have a first person recounting of the US’s strategic failure and malpractice regarding Ukraine.

Kharkiv:

https://twitter.com/maria_avdv/status/1773252616589312461

https://twitter.com/natemook/status/1773349637031657892

Somewhere on the Dnipro River courtesy of Magyar’s Birds:

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1773273236702150770

Krynky, Russian occupied Kherson Oblast:

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1773410499725533184

Sevastopol, Russian occupied Crimea:

https://twitter.com/maria_avdv/status/1773378062748352524

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1773367035512148204

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1773369227480535446

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1773376760446435416

Moscow:

https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1773491332322848790

Here’s the full text of Ponomarenko’s first tweet.

A very good illustration of today’s world and why things are so fucked up and only getting worse.

The Pope in Rome: Propagates ‘negotiations’ with the Kremlin over its war on Ukraine and ‘the courage of hoisting the white flag’.

Patriarch Kirill in Moscow: Propagades a ‘Sacred War on the Satanic West’, complete eradication of Ukraine, and the further territorial expansion of ‘the Russian world’.

More on the Crocus disco attack:

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1773274968173818361

Budanov destroys pro-Kremlin conspiracy theorists regarding the Crocus City Hall attack: “Russia knew in advance about the preparation of a terrorist operation in the Moscow region, but allowed it either because of the “struggle of towers of influence” or the underestimation of the scale of what could happen.”

He also adds he does not condone such terrorist attacks: ““Explanations from Patrushev and Bortnikov appeared, who accused me personally and that Ukraine did all this. This is nonsense. By the way, if we touched on this painful issue, even though this is the enemy, I do not approve in principle of terrorist acts against civilians.”

Read full on Pravda: https://pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2024/03/27/7448459/

From Ukrainska Pravda:

Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence has stated that Russia was aware of the impending terrorist operation near Moscow but allowed it to take place due to the “struggle of the towers of influence,” or a lack of understanding of the scope of the attack.

Source: Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (DIU), during a conversation at the Third International Forum on Strategic Communications, as reported by the press service of DIU

Quote: “At least since 15 February 2024, the Russian Federation has been aware of the preparations. I’ll tell you even more: this information was passed through the group’s intelligence agency in Syria. From there, it was passed on to Moscow. And don’t let them tell you that it miraculously appeared out of nowhere.

There are several possible explanations for why they let it happen. The first, as is customary in Russia, is a power struggle – removal of several high-ranking officials. Another option is that they may have underestimated the severity of the situation. They assumed it would be smaller in nature and wanted to blame Ukraine for everything.”

Details: Budanov stated that Russia knew where combat groups would come from and how they would transit two countries before arriving on Russian territory.

The general noted that the Kremlin has already changed three versions of what happened at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow Oblast, attempting to incorporate the so-called “Ukrainian trace” into the terrorist attack.

“There were explanations from Patrushev [Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation] and Bortnikov [Head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)], who accused me personally and said that it was all done by Ukraine. This is nonsense. By the way, if we touch on this painful issue, even though it is the enemy, I do not approve in principle of terrorist acts against civilians,” Budanov said.

The Ukrainian intelligence chief added that Russia had sown chaos and was overconfident in its ability to control it.

Quote: “There is a known saying, even a parable of some sort. And it always applies in the case of secret services, where everyone is attempting to create controlled chaos. At various points in time, almost every serious organisation attempted to do this. And the axiom states that none of them could make it controllable. The same thing occurred here.”

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron tweets or videos today. So here’s some adjacent material.

https://twitter.com/eugenehmg/status/1772252506216698126

https://twitter.com/UAnimalsENG/status/1772951214977613917

 

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https://twitter.com/UAnimalsENG/status/1772633289796293061

Open thread!