President Zelenskyy: We must keep up pressure on Russia

“Even if the American President now does not apply strong enough pressure on Russia, the truth is – America still has the most global interests and the most allies,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an address at the Special Meeting of the G7 Leaders on June 17.

Mr. Prime Minister,

Dear leaders,

Last night, Russia carried out one of the largest combined attacks on Ukraine since the beginning of this war. The targets were our cities – meaning ordinary people, ordinary families in their homes. There were 440 drones, most of them Shaheds, and 32 missiles of various types, including ballistic ones and those with cluster warheads. One ballistic missile hit a residential building – it went through from the top floor down to the basement. Rescue operations are still ongoing. People are being searched for under the rubble. In Kyiv alone, there were about 30 locations where either missiles struck or debris fell. Nearly 150 residential buildings were damaged in Kyiv alone. As of now, we know that 131 people were injured. 15 people were killed. Among the dead is one foreign national – a citizen of the United States. We are now confirming the full details.

Our air defense systems were active across almost the entire country, and it’s important that a significant number of drones and missiles were intercepted. This is thanks in large part to your countries, to those who are helping us with air defense systems and missiles for them. This support is truly a matter of life and death. We must continue receiving air defense systems and missiles. And it’s time to move toward localized production in Ukraine – of everything needed for air defense. This is not a luxury – it is an urgent need to save lives, here and now.

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