Zelenskyy instructs relevant services to propose possible responses to massive missile and drone strike of May 13-14
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has instructed the Defense Forces of Ukraine and special services to propose possible formats for a response to the massive missile and drone strike of May 13-14.
"I held a meeting of the Staff. The first issue was a detailed report from our military on the defensive operations that took place these days against the massive and virtually continuous Russia strike that lasted almost two days," Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
Zelenskyy recalled that in total, during the waves of massive attacks on May 13 and 14, Russians used 1,567 drones and 56 missiles of various types. "Our drone shoot-down rate was 94%. The missile shoot-down rate was 73%. The key challenge is ballistics and the protection of thousands of rear infrastructure facilities and our cities," he emphasized.
"I am grateful to everyone who is helping at the strike sites and saving people. I will also speak in detail with our diplomats regarding the tasks we have today in searching for missiles for air defense. Everyone must focus on anti-ballistic systems and missiles for them. This is priority number one, and the assessment of the work of Ukrainian diplomacy in May-June will depend, in particular, on the sufficient provision of our sky protection forces. I have instructed the Defense Forces of Ukraine and special services to propose possible formats for our response to this Russia strike," Zelenskyy reported.
According to him, during the Staff meeting, together with military commanders, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Energy, and other involved officials, they discussed in detail the needs of the sky protection forces and increasing the supply of necessary equipment, including radars. "On this matter, specific instructions were given to the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Air Force, and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
"There were also reports on hits in our various regions: from Rivne and Frankivsk to Kyiv and the Kharkiv region. Currently, search and rescue operations are still ongoing in Kyiv at the site of the destruction of a residential building entrance, which was practically demolished from the 1st to the 9th floor due to this Russia attack. The fate of nearly 20 people who could have been in this building remains unknown. As of now, seven dead and 39 wounded are known in Kyiv alone. All necessary forces of the SES of Ukraine, the National Police, municipal, and medical services are involved," the Head of the Ukrainian State said.
The President emphasized that "this special terrorist tactic of the Russians, which accumulated drones and missiles over a certain period and deliberately calculated the strike so that its scale would be significant and the complication for our air defense would be at its maximum."