Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2023 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (27/02/2023)

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 27 February 2023.

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

A brief report on this day.

The day began with an attack by Iranian drones. Most of them were shot down. Eleven out of fourteen.

Unfortunately, there were also hits. Three employees of the State Emergency Service in Khmelnytskyi were wounded, two were killed. My condolences to the families. The second drone hit just as the fire was being extinguished after the first hit.

In fact, that is why we need the aviation component of air defense – modern combat aircraft – to protect the entire territory of our country from Russian terror. Air defense is complete only when it is backed by aviation. Modern aviation.

Our pilots, together with our anti-aircraft gunners, together with all the warriors and specialists of our Air Forces, are already doing a great job. But we will be able to fully protect the sky when the aviation taboo in relations with our partners is lifted.

The elimination of consequences of the power grid accident in Odesa and the Odesa region lasted all day. There was a large-scale power outage, but the power supply was restored within a day.

As of this evening, all critical infrastructure and the vast majority of consumers have electricity. I am grateful to all power engineers and repair crews who ensured a quick result.

Ukraine demonstrated and will continue to demonstrate that our resilience is higher than anyone’s expectations.

Today, I held several meetings with representatives of the government and security agencies. In particular, a meeting with Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Malyuk. We discussed current issues and our steps to protect the state in the near future.

We will not leave any chance to any internal threats, just as we don’t leave it to external ones.

Of course, I am constantly in touch with our commanders. Special attention to the situation in the east, of course, in the Donetsk region.

Bakhmut direction – the situation is getting more and more difficult. The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions, to gain a foothold and ensure defense.

Our warriors defending the Bakhmut sector are real heroes.

I am grateful to each and every person who is heroically holding this direction and other directions in Donbas. I thank each and every one who helps our warriors and does everything to ensure that our defenders have as many weapons, long-range weapons, powerful weapons as possible.

Today, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury paid a visit to Kyiv.

I thanked her for the vital financial support for our country. We discussed our current cooperation both at the level between Ukraine and the United States and at the level of global financial institutions, including the IMF. We discussed the needs for reconstruction in Ukraine and the restoration of justice for our people and the entire free world, which means launching a real mechanism of compensation for the damage caused by this war… compensation at the cost of Russian assets.

This is not an easy task. But fulfilling it and directing Russian assets to compensate for the war damage will be one of the most powerful hits of the free world against this aggressor and against any aggression in general.

I think a format for compensation will be found and Russia will pay for its war. In every sense.

Glory to each and every one who is now fighting for Ukraine! Thank you to everyone who helps!

May the memory of all those whose lives were taken by Russian terror be eternal!

Glory to Ukraine!