Facts are stubborn things. Since the beginning of this year, the Russian army has carried out attacks against Ukraine using nearly 27,700 aerial bombs, almost 11,200 Shahed drones, around 9,000 other types of attack UAVs, and more than 700 missiles, including ballistic ones. And that’s in less than half a year.
This is the pace of Russian strikes, and they deliberately set this tempo from the very first days of the full-scale war. Russia has restructured its entire state, society, and economy to be able to kill people in other countries on a massive scale and with impunity.
Many have spoken with Russia at various levels. But none of these talks have brought a reliable peace, or even stopped the war. Unfortunately, Putin feels impunity. Even after all of Russia’s horrific attacks, he is reportedly preparing yet more so-called “responses.”
It means, that with every new strike, with every delay of diplomacy, Russia is giving the finger to the entire world — to all those who still hesitate to increase pressure on it. Yet, it is Russia that should be seeking peace. It is in Moscow that they must begin to feel that war carries a cost, a high cost, and the highest one should be paid by the aggressor.
If the world reacts weakly to Putin’s threats, he interprets it as a readiness to turn a blind eye to his actions. When he does not feel strength and pressure, but instead senses weakness, he always commits new crimes. He sees such an attitude as silent permission: permission for new atrocities, new strikes, new killings.
That is why we in Ukraine are so grateful to everyone in the world who is trying to stop this war and stop Russia’s attacks. To everyone who tells the killer that he will be held accountable. To everyone who says Russian missiles and bombs must stop taking innocent lives.
Russia must bring back peace.
And today, on the Day of Remembrance of Ukrainian Children Killed by Russian Aggression, we remind the powerful of this world of the facts. If the powerful do not stop Putin, it means they share responsibility with him. And if they want to stop him but cannot, then Putin will no longer see them as powerful.
Факти – річ уперта. Від початку цього року російська армія завдала по Україні ударів із застосуванням майже 27 700 авіабомб, майже 11 200 «шахедів» та майже 9000 ударних безпілотників інших типів, а також більш ніж 700 ракет, зокрема балістичних. Це менш ніж за пів року.
Такий темп російських ударів, і вони в Росії взяли саме такий темп абсолютно свідомо з перших днів повномасштабної війни. Росія перебудувала свій державний, суспільний та економічний устрій заради можливості безкарно і масово вбивати людей в інших країнах.
Багато хто говорив із Росією і на різних рівнях. Жодні розмови не привели не тільки до надійного миру, але й навіть до зупинки війни. На жаль, Путін відчуває безкарність і навіть після всіх жахливих російських ударів нібито готує ще якісь «відповіді».
Це означає, що кожним новим ударом, кожною новою відстрочкою дипломатії Росія показує середній палець усьому світові. Усім, хто не хоче посилювати тиск на Росію. Хоча це Росія повинна шукати миру. Це в них там, у Москві, мають відчувати, що війна має свою ціну – велику ціну, і найвищу саме для агресора.
Якщо світ слабко реагує на погрози від Путіна, то він це сприймає як готовність світу заплющити очі на його дії. Коли він не відчуває сили та тиску, а відчуває слабкість, він завжди вчиняє нові злочини. Він розцінює таке ставлення як мовчазний дозвіл – дозвіл на нові звірства, нові удари, нові вбивства.
Тому ми в Україні так вдячні всім у світі, хто намагається зупинити війну і російські удари. Усім, хто каже вбивці, що той отримає заслужене покарання. Усім, хто каже, що російські ракети і бомби повинні перестати забирати життя людей.
Росія має повернути мир.
І саме сьогодні, у День памʼяті українських дітей, загиблих через російську агресію, ми нагадуємо факти сильним світу цього. І якщо сильні не зупиняють Путіна, це означає, що вони розділяють із ним відповідальність. А якщо вони хочуть, але не можуть його зупинити, Путін більше не вважатиме їх сильними.
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I spoke with media on the day of remembrance for Ukrainian children killed by Russia.
In Istanbul, Russians gave us an ultimatum, not a “memorandum”.
Peace requires a meeting of leaders. I am ready to meet in the coming days with Putin, as well as presidents Trump and Erdogan.
Regarding the Istanbul meeting, our groups held consultations regarding POW exchanges today. Russia said it will transfer 500 warriors this weekend out of the 1000+ that was agreed. We will be ready to exchange the relevant number. We still haven’t received lists from Russia.
Bodies of fallen soldiers. Our data show Russia has identified a maximum of 20% of all bodies. We need thorough preparation. We need bodies of Ukrainians, not Russians they want to dump. We already had such examples. Therefore, this exchange will proceed right after POW exchange.
Today, I addressed the participants of the Summit in Vilnius and emphasized that the key to lasting peace is clear – the aggressor must not receive any reward for war. Putin must get nothing that would justify his aggression. Any reward would only show him that war pays off.
We talked about our operation inside Russia, which has seriously weakened their military. Operation “Spiderweb” showed what modern war really looks like and why it’s so important to stay ahead with technology.
All our joint investments in drone production, all our shared battlefield experience, everything we’re doing together with our partners – it’s making Europe stronger. We agreed with our partners on several joint decisions that will strengthen our defense even more. I thank everyone for the willingness to help.
Today, a brilliant operation was carried out — on enemy territory, targeting only military objectives, specifically the equipment used to strike Ukraine. Russia suffered significant losses — entirely justified and deserved.
The preparation took over a year and a half. Planning, organisation, every detail was perfectly executed. It can be said with confidence that this was an absolutely unique operation.
What’s most interesting, and this can now be stated publicly, is that the “office” of our operation on Russian territory was located directly next to FSB headquarters in one of their regions.
Germany is one of the global leaders in supporting Ukraine and defending the rules-based international order. Preserving the rules means preserving normal life for people. That’s exactly what @Bundeskanzler and I talked about today.
We discussed current diplomatic efforts and the state of ongoing negotiations. The world has been waiting over a week now for Russia to finalise its so-called “memorandum” — what they need to stop killing people. So far, they have not come up with anything new and are throwing repetitions of their old ultimatums into the information space.
Ukraine believes there should be no preconditions for a ceasefire. A ceasefire must happen unconditionally and urgently. I thank Germany for supporting this.
I addressed the European Political Community Summit. This week, we had a real chance to move toward ending the war — if only Putin hadn’t been afraid to come to Türkiye. I was there ready for a direct meeting with him to resolve all key issues. He didn’t agree to anything.
I appreciate that we here share the same understanding: this war must end — and it must end justly. Ukraine needs peace. Peace in Europe depends on whether Ukraine will get it.
Everyone could see that the Russian delegation in Istanbul was of a very low level. None of them were people who actually make decisions in Russia. Still, I sent our team, led by Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, to at least find out whether those Russians could actually decide anything.
I want to sincerely thank President @RTErdogan, his team, and the people of Türkiye for their support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. President Erdoğan reaffirmed during our meeting today that he supports Ukraine and recognises Crimea as part of Ukraine.
This is a very important signal — not only politically, but also personally, in terms of our friendship and Türkiye’s multifaceted support for Ukraine. We had a very meaningful conversation at the highest level.
Ukraine’s visit to Türkiye begins here, in the capital, Ankara. We demonstrated the strength and seriousness of our delegation, which includes: the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Head of the Office of the President, the Minister of Defence, the Chief of the General Staff, the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, and representatives of all our intelligence agencies.