Next year, we will add significant budget funds for the defense industry – address by the President of Ukraine

13 September 2023 – 22:04

I wish you health, dear Ukrainians!

It was an important day. The Military Cabinet – there were some details that I cannot talk about now, but that will be very effective in the war.

I held a meeting with Prime Minister Shmyhal and Minister of Finance Marchenko on next year’s budget.

I outlined the key parameters – what should be prioritized in the state budget.

The key is to protect our state and people. Defense and security are the first priority, and the funding for defense and security will be at least at the level of this year, i.e. one trillion six hundred billion hryvnias. At least!

Next year, we will add significant budget funds for the defense industry – for the production of weapons in Ukraine. And for the drones. Both for the purchase of what is needed abroad and for the Ukrainian production. In addition, almost 100 billion hryvnias will be allocated for the production of weapons, overseen by the Ministry of Strategic Industry, and for the Ukrainian drone army, which is showing very good, impressive results. I will support all of this.

A separate budget priority is to support our veterans.

We also keep social expenditures as a priority. At least 469 billion hryvnias. There will be additional funds for the healthcare system – at least 24 billion plus to this year’s expenditures. There will be a plus for the education system, primarily to support teachers and lecturers.

We are investing the necessary funds in digitalization, including our Mriia, a new tool for children, parents, and teachers that we have already presented in advance. Next year, Mriia should be fully operational and available to Ukrainians in every corner of the world!

Of course, there will be a significant indexation of pensions – we plan to do it in March, as required by law.

But, in addition to all this, we place a very important economic emphasis in the budget. We are adding incentives for the economy – production, jobs, investments. All the things needed to help Ukraine recover faster.

Government officials will present the details of such incentives. This includes the connection to the power grid for investors, the continuation of grant programs, mortgage programs, and the development of Ukrainian industrial parks.

I instructed the Prime Minister to prepare the basis for raising the minimum wage in Ukraine in the first half of next year.

Absolutely all elements of state work must be adjusted so that we can determine the timing of the end of this war here in Ukraine ourselves. With our victory. Our weapons that will reach all the goals necessary for Ukraine. Our economy that will be able to provide Ukrainians with the jobs they need. Social functions of the state that must be fulfilled. State functionality, especially digital functionality, which must become more advanced than anywhere else in Europe. All these are our tools to bring Ukraine’s victory closer.

And our cooperation with our partners – with everyone in the world who is interested in peace with us.

Today I held a meeting on Ukraine’s integration with the European Union and NATO. Another meeting, a long meeting, was about preparing negotiations with partners, different ones: from the G7, from the Global South. All this will happen.

One more thing. As always, I want to thank our warriors. Today, I am especially grateful to our pilots. Well done, guys! We are all proud of you.

I thank everyone who fights and works for Ukraine! Everyone who is now in combat, at combat posts, on combat missions. I thank everyone who trains our troops, who produces weapons for Ukraine, who finds in the world everything that Ukraine needs. I thank you all!

Glory to Ukraine!

The cost:

Our fallen heroes will always be remembered, their memory forever cherished.

📷Vadim Prokopchuk pic.twitter.com/tFhkABdIvd

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 13, 2023

A Ukrainian soldier. In March 2014, the russians seized his home in Luhansk. In March 2022, russian artillery destroyed his new home in Chernihiv. Look deep into his resolute eyes, and you'll see his unwavering resolve to defend his homeland for as long as necessary; he is not… pic.twitter.com/uYRW4osZzK

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 13, 2023

A Ukrainian soldier. In March 2014, the russians seized his home in Luhansk. In March 2022, russian artillery destroyed his new home in Chernihiv. Look deep into his resolute eyes, and you’ll see his unwavering resolve to defend his homeland for as long as necessary; he is not going to leave his land or his fellow citizens in the hands of the occupiers.

📷 @Liberov

 

Like tens of thousands of Ukrainian children, the heroine of this video, 8-year-old Valya Zhurbenko, was kidnapped by russian invaders. Those Ukrainian children were separated from their families, forcibly taken to russia and Belarus, given up for adoption, deprived of the right… pic.twitter.com/Z9w1yqw6xE

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 13, 2023

Like tens of thousands of Ukrainian children, the heroine of this video, 8-year-old Valya Zhurbenko, was kidnapped by russian invaders. Those Ukrainian children were separated from their families, forcibly taken to russia and Belarus, given up for adoption, deprived of the right to speak their native language and brought up in the ideology of ruscism – which equates to hatred of everything Ukrainian. Valya, like all these children, can only dream of reuniting with her parents, and returning to Ukraine. She can see her escape and her return to Ukraine only in her dreams. The entire world must join forces to make these children’s dreams come true. We will locate each and every kidnapped child. We will return all of them.

🎶 @Kler_lera

Unfortunately, the Russian navy fails to have warships named "Tehran" and "Pyongyang" but I don't believe that's going to be a problem for Ukraine's air force.

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) September 13, 2023

We also caught tuna today.@UA_NAVY pic.twitter.com/fgssaDodnu

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 13, 2023

How can one explain the unbreakable spirit of Ukraine? Well, it's difficult to put into just a few words… pic.twitter.com/9mlGcdouaz

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 13, 2023

Russian occupied Sevastopol:

NASA satellites captured a fire 4am local time at the Sevastopol Shipyard. pic.twitter.com/bv62tSjbvm

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) September 13, 2023

Although it’s challenging to evaluate the extent of damage from 3M imagery, the area where the submarine was located during the attack shows signs of extensive fire damage. The scorch marks around the submarine are significant and easily noticeable pic.twitter.com/9krz4SiOAS

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) September 13, 2023

Here is an additional imagery comparison that further elucidates the extent of fire damage in Sevastopol's dry docks following the attack on September 13th. pic.twitter.com/KYoxW5FP1I

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) September 13, 2023

So I suppose the landing ship and the submarine are completely destroyed in Sevastopol.
Russia keeps sustaining naval loses in a land war to a nation that has literally 0 major warships. pic.twitter.com/bHrp1AB1kZ

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) September 13, 2023

Good points here. The drydock could prove a more significant problem for the Black Sea fleet depending on the damage. https://t.co/0sKBbmawRs

— Michael Kofman (@KofmanMichael) September 13, 2023

Yes, it’s primarily a capacity issue.

— Michael Kofman (@KofmanMichael) September 13, 2023

Russian occupied Nova Khakovka:

/2. More accurate location of recent strikes near Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region. https://t.co/5p14qejPJ3

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) September 13, 2023

Russian occupied Mariupol:

The very essence of today’s Russia – mindlessly putting old Soviet sickle and hammer next to a giant steel factory (Azovstal) they ruined, bringing back old, long forgotten Soviet names of streets they destroyed, in a city the slaughtered and turned into a giant cemetery. pic.twitter.com/9POAiwALGg

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) September 13, 2023

In other exciting news, the former Austrian minister who is a Putin aficionado relocated from Austria to Russia over the past month or so.

Austrian ex-minister Karin Kneissl moves to Russia with her ponies – BBC News https://t.co/UwPRnT3PxK

— Sarah Rainsford @sarahrainsfordbbc.bsky.social (@sarahrainsford) September 13, 2023

The BBC has details:

Austria’s pro-Russian former foreign minister Karin Kneissl is moving to St Petersburg, along with her two ponies.

Karin Kneissl had been living in Lebanon. She left government amidst a scandal that engulfed the far-right Austrian party that appointed her.

The ponies were flown to St Petersburg on a Russian military transport plane from Syria, she said.

Ms Kneissl said she had decided to move to Russia to run a think tank at St Petersburg University.

“I co-founded the Gorki centre and manage it,” Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency quoted Ms Kneissl as saying. “Since there is a lot of work there and it requires a lot of attention, I cannot do this in passing. I decided to move to St Petersburg for this work.”

Asked by the BBC about her move to Russia’s second city, she declined to comment. But she said on social media that living in Lebanon had been a temporary solution “to survive” and while she was commuting to Russia to teach.

Ms Kneissl is a noted animal lover. She said on social media that, because of sanctions against Syria and the security situation there, using a military transport plane was her only option to bring her ponies and other belongings to Russia.

More at the link if you can stomach it.

That’s enough for tonight.

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