Zelenskyy: Ukraine will not give up Donbas and must strike Russia with more long-range attacks

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will not agree to give up Donbas to Russia for a quick end to the war. At the same time, he called for increasing Ukraine's long-range capabilities, making 'Flamingo' missiles mass-produced, and striking Russia more.

Zelenskyy said this in a speech on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence.

The president rejected the thesis that handing over Donbas to Russia could quickly lead to the end of the war. According to him, Ukraine will not allow Moscow and its supporters to convince the world of the necessity of such a concession.

"We will not let them seize the initiative, deceive Europe and the whole world that we just need to give away Donbas and everything will quickly end. There are no illusions. There is no trust in them. We will not save the Kremlin half a million soldiers", - said Zelenskyy.

He added that Russia regularly postpones the dates when it plans to fully capture the Donetsk region, and, in his assessment, will be forced to do so in the future. Ukraine, instead, must strengthen the army and provide it with everything necessary for defense.

Zelenskyy devoted a separate block of his speech to the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex and long-range weapons. He said that Ukraine has already carried out thousands of long-range strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Among the directions that, according to him, Ukrainian weapons have already reached, the president named Moscow, Tula, Ryazan, Olenya and Omsk. Zelenskyy stressed that Ukrainian strikes must continue to destroy Russian logistics and reduce Russia's revenues.

The president specifically called for increasing the production of Ukrainian 'Flamingo' missiles.

"Flamingos should be not a rare species, but a mass bird. They should winter in Russia", - said Zelenskyy.

According to him, the Ukrainian defense industry is already working around the clock, but arms production must be increased. Among other technological directions, the president highlighted ground robotic systems: tens of thousands of such systems are already performing dangerous tasks at the front and, according to him, helped save the lives of thousands of soldiers.

Zelenskyy also cited the performance indicators of Ukrainian air defense. According to him, air defense forces currently shoot down over 90% of Russian 'Shaheds'. He named the next task as large-scale interception of jet drones and finding an effective solution against Russian ballistic missiles.

Thus, among the key military priorities, Zelenskyy named holding the defense without territorial concessions, further increasing long-range strikes, scaling up domestic missile production, robotizing the front and strengthening air and missile defense.

Based on materials from: the website of the President of Ukraine