I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!
A lot happened today. There were military reports, including from the Commander-in-Chief. Our counteroffensive operation in the Donetsk region – Pokrovsk and Dobropillia sectors – continues. For the Russians, it was one of the most important axes of their offensive, but they failed to mount a full-scale offensive there – our army is destroying their forces. The Russians have suffered heavy losses, and our state’s exchange fund has been significantly replenished – every day adds new Russian prisoners of war.
I want to thank all our units involved: the 79th and 82nd Air Assault Brigades, our assault units – the 1st, 33rd, 225th, and 425th Assault Regiments, and the 14th National Guard Brigade. Thank you, warriors!
In Kupyansk and the surrounding areas, we are defending our positions – I thank all the brigades. Also, there will be our new deep strikes in retaliation to Russia's actions.
I held a Staff meeting today. The main topic was on the production of our weapons. We have a clear understanding of volumes – what our army needs till the end of the year, as well as what it will need next year, and what we need to have in stock to continue our defense and to maintain our sufficient strength. Of course, this includes sufficient funding for weapons production here in Ukraine, and co-production together with our partners, and deliveries to Ukraine of what our partners manufacture. Starting this year, we will cover the deficit in financing weapons production, in particular, through controlled exports of certain types of our weapons.
Via such controlled exports, we will increase the production of drones for the front line. We will have the funding. We can produce certain types of weapons – modern weapons – in much larger quantities than we can self-finance, and we already have certain types of weapons in much larger quantities than we actually need today in Ukraine. For example, naval drones that the world counts on and that we have in surplus, as well as anti-tank weapons and some other types. This means the first priority is the front – supplying our brigades. The second priority is our Ukrainian arsenals. And only the third priority is this kind of controlled export.
