Address by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov

Fellow Ukrainians! 

147 hours of defence. 

The nature of events is changing. Russian occupation forces are trying to keep the combat capacities of their units somehow, nevertheless, it is getting worse.

This is evidenced by the repeated facts of the capture of Russian soldiers and officers, as

well as their refusal to continue the offensive.

In Russia, relatives of prisoners and victims are beginning to protest. The great lie of Russian propaganda is breaking.

The enemy was afraid of direct contact with Ukrainian defenders, therefore, he switched on the criminal tactics of long-range shelling of peaceful cities.

Air and missile strike from Russia and Belarus on residential buildings and schools, shellings of maternity hospitals - this is coward behavior of those who have no honor. They are not military - they are terrorists, representatives of the terrorist state and this mark will be with them for a long time.

The enemy meanly shelled peaceful Zhytomyr. This is an attempt to take revenge for the successful task performance of the 95th Brigade in the Joint Forces Operation area. The occupiers aimed at the brigade's barracks and nearby houses. The Kremlin will not achieve the desired result, by attacking the women and children of our soldiers.

Many of our cities and villages are now suffering from Russian terror, most of them, probably, - Kharkiv, Mariupol, and Kherson.

This is one more piece of evidence that no "Russian world" exists. That is a Nazi ideology in the heads of a handful of maniacs who are still holding power in Russia. Meanwhile, there are Ukrainian citizens, who speak different languages, go to different churches and houses of worship, but stay together and heroically resist the Russian occupiers.

We are staying united for victory!

Yesterday I had a long conversation with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Even the experienced American military is delighted with the professionalism of our defenders and the resilience of our people. The amount of help we receive is increasing. The number of countries that provide their assistance is increasing. Even those countries, considered impossible to assist, now are joining.

New Bayraktars have already arrived in Ukraine and are on combat duty. There will be more Stingers and Javelins.

Europe is becoming our rear and is supplying what is critical for defense. We are at the forefront of the free world.

I am proud of everyone who is defending their home from the Russian invasion today.

I bow my head to those who gave their lives.

After the victory, we will honor their memory so that even though the centuries Ukrainians will honor the heroes of Gostomel, Kherson, Chernihiv, Sumy, Shchastia, Volnovakha, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Okhtyrka, and other places, as we honor our heroic ancestors, beginning with chronicle princes of Kyiv Rus (knyaz). 

Glory to Ukraine!  Glory to the Heroes of Ukraine!