Day 1676 of the war. Address of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Ukrainians

Dear Ukrainians, men and women, there was a report from military intelligence on Russian arms production, and this concerns not only jet Shaheds, but also some other technological means. We know from Russian internal documents what they are preparing and specifically for next year, the volumes, the funding; we are preparing our countermeasures, and there must be a Ukrainian means for every point. Currently, there are several effective prototypes of interceptors against Russian jet drones; there are teams using them in combat conditions; interceptors have already been identified that can become the primary means of our defense; the production of components—we are scaling all of this, there will be a response.

The same applies to other existing threats. Obviously, the Russians are not preparing to stop the war, at least for now. Putin constantly has some pretext not to meet, not to engage in a trilateral format, not to talk, not to end and stop these killings. For years, it has been the same thing, and all our partners feel this; he looks for pretexts to wage war.

Our recent meeting with the US President sounded the same; this shows that America assesses the situation similarly, and it is necessary for Russia to develop a desire to spend money not on death, but on something else, so that they develop a desire to end this war. And we are working on this together with America, Europe, Canada, Japan, and many others in the world who help us, who help Ukraine, who help our people.

In the coming days and in October, there will be much diplomatic activity to change the situation. But, besides this, the Lincigrem law and other pressure mechanisms must all work even more. Next year, Russia plans to spend 12 billion dollars on the production of jet drones and loitering munitions alone, and only on this one category of weapons. Of course, this does not concern only Ukraine, and does not concern only us. Ukrainian interception of jet Shaheds is currently 55%. In September, there were more than 2,730 jet Shaheds; more than one and a half thousand were shot down or suppressed.

And, of course, unfortunately, a significant part reaches the intended targets. But we in Ukraine will build up the defense step by step. We will make it no less than the existing defense against ordinary Shaheds. For ordinary Shaheds, the shoot-down rate is more than 90%.

But this directly concerns our partners. Many intelligence services have information that the Russians want to expand their war, their activity, to other states. Perhaps other regions. And therefore, we must build defense together. We must defend ourselves preventively together.

And that is exactly why we are talking with partners about greater sanctions. And that is exactly why we are proposing the Drone Deal format. This is significantly more than the export of one or another weapon. This is the creation of joint defense systems. The dissemination of the experience held by real defenders, by our fighters.

This is the task of modernizing our defense and the defense of those partners who themselves may find themselves under pressure from Russia or its allies.

Now, steps for defense must be taken not only in Europe. If we unite more forces in the world for the constant modernization of defense, to cover our deficits, and also for joint production and joint work, we will be able to guarantee security faster. To guarantee security for all and arrive at true, real diplomacy and peace.

We already have 11 agreements in the Drone Deal format. The 11th, with Finland, we signed this week in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. This is a real contribution to the approach of peace. For partners, this is experience, this is security. For Ukraine, this is more capacity for production, more funding, more technological advantages thanks to what partners can help us with, just as we help them.

We are already preparing the 12th Drone Deal. A strong state. We expect to sign it in the coming weeks.

One more thing. I want to recognize everyone. All their services, all the businesses involved in the protection of our critical infrastructure. The Russians are conducting an operation of strikes against Ukrainian data centers, against our communication infrastructure. And everyone sees this threat. The Russians' goal is simple—to leave Ukrainians without internet. To leave us without communication, without the appropriate digital services. We are promptly countering this. There were decisions of the high command regarding this, and at all stages there are clearly defined steps so that Ukraine is protected from this threat.

I thank everyone who is performing this task. I thank everyone who helps. I thank everyone who is with us, who is with Ukraine, who is with our people. Glory to Ukraine!