President Zelenskyy: There’s good news on long-range drones

“Today, I held a meeting with the new Chief of the General Staff, Andriy Hnatov – together with Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, we outlined the top priorities,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a traditional address to the Ukrainian nation on March 17.

I wish you health, dear Ukrainians!

Today, I held a Staff Meeting. Several issues were discussed, but the key topic was drones – all types that we need. There is good news regarding long-range drones: our 3,000-kilometer-range drone has successfully passed testing. I am grateful to the developers and manufacturers. We are advancing a line of long-range capabilities that will help guarantee the security of our state. There was also a report on the use of Ukrainian missiles – the long Neptune, and we can say we are satisfied with the strike results. However, we need to produce more missiles, more drones, and this week, we will discuss this with our partners. Ukraine’s defense production capacity, combined with partner investments – primarily from Europe – forms a reliable foundation for a new security architecture that will inevitably be established on our continent. There is no alternative to this. Security is essential, and it is only a matter of time before everyone on the continent realizes that the old security architecture will no longer work. New solutions are needed. Sufficient modern technological weaponry. Sufficient defense spending. Sufficient investment in defense production. And most importantly – motivation. Motivation to defend one’s home. And this means contingents that have relevant combat experience, and that are trained by those who have already gained such experience.

Full text of the address: Office of the President of Ukraine