President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that strengthening of Ukrainian air defenses is the best strategic investment in security, and 2024 should be the year Ukraine knocks russia out of its skies.
Zelenskyy wrote about this on the X social network (Twitter), Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"We are extremely grateful to all our partners who have already taken important decisions to strengthen our air defense. Since Ukraine is a large country, our need for air defense systems is significant. However, we are confident that strengthening of our air defense capabilities is the best strategic investment in security, thanks to which will also save our partners a significant amount of resources in the long run," he wrote.
Zelenskyy noted that strengthening of Ukraine's air defense is the best strategic investment in security for at least five reasons:
- above all, every air defense system and every missile provided to Ukraine saves lives;
- more people, potentially millions, will be able to return from abroad to each large city and region, which will be completely covered by a reliable air shield, this will give a significant boost to Ukraine's economy, help reduce the budget deficit and, as a result, the need for international financial assistance;
- the stronger the Ukrainian air defense, the greater the success of Ukraine in the Black Sea, the greater the sea exports, the better the protection of freedom of navigation, this will make it possible to deliver hundreds of thousands of additional tons of food through a safer sea export corridor and counteract the global food crisis;
- each additional air defense system and missile saves resources that would otherwise be needed to restore destroyed objects, critical infrastructure, power systems, power grids;
- depriving russia of the opportunity to terrorize Ukraine with missiles and drones will force the aggressor to abandon this tactic, which will generally contribute to the approach of victory.
"Since 2022, Ukraine has freed more than half of the land occupied by russia. In 2023, Ukraine expelled the russian fleet from most of the Black Sea. 2024 should be the year when Ukraine throws Russia out of its skies," he emphasized.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on November 22, the 17th meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (Ramstein) was held, at which new support packages for Ukraine were announced and a coalition for the development of air defense of Ukraine was created.
According to Defense Minister Rustem Umierov, 20 countries have already joined the Ground-Based Air Defense coalition led by Germany and France.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.