Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the United States for approving a new support package worth $ 40bn for Ukraine and democracy in our region. On 19 May 2022, the US Senate approved this package. It manifests strong leadership and is a necessary contribution to our joined defense of freedom.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said this in his video address.
The President of Ukraine said the monthly budget deficit in Ukraine is now $ 5bn. Ukraine needs quick and sufficient financial support to survive the war for freedom. For partners, it is not an expenditure or a gift; it is their contribution to their own safety.
Zelenskyy emphasized that defending Ukraine also means protecting Ukraine's partners from new wars and crises that russia could provoke if it succeeds in the war against Ukraine.
"That is why we all must work together to ensure that russia achieves no success in its aggression against our state. Neither military, nor economic, nor any other," - said the President of Ukraine.
He said that on 19 May 2022, he had a conversation with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and thanked her for the Macro-Financial assistance of 9bn euros.
Zelenskyy also spoke with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, about economic issues, including the export of Ukrainian agriculture products and fuel import. In addition, Zelenskyy told Johnson about the situation in the war zone and the evacuation of Ukrainian heroes from "Azovstal."
Besides, on 19 May 2022, the President of Ukraine addressed students of Ukrainian universities. Students from 25 Ukrainian universities from Kyiv, Bila Tserkva, Mariupol, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Kryvyi Rih, Donetsk, Kherson, Ivano-Frankivsk, Horlivka, and Dnipro took part in the meeting. Zelenskyy instructed the Minister of Education to make correspondent changes that will allow high school graduates from all temporarily occupied territories to become the students of Ukrainian universities in a simplified way.
He also instructed the Minister to ensure the education of those students who pay for college but at the same time come from the currently occupied territories, as it is challenging to pay for college in such conditions.
The President noted that the UAF (Armed Forces of Ukraine) continue to work on liberating the Kharkiv region, but in Donbas, the occupiers are trying to increase pressure.
In particular, yesterday, the russians brutally and unnecessarily bombed Sievierodonetsk, killing 12 people and injuring dozens in just one day.
He also recalled the russian strikes on the Chernihiv region, particularly the terrible strike on Desna that killed many people; people still dismantle the debris there. There are also constant strikes on the Odesa region and the cities of central Ukraine; Donbas is destroyed - all this has no and cannot have any military explanation for russia.
"This is a deliberate and criminal attempt to kill as many Ukrainians as possible; destroy as many residential buildings, social facilities, and enterprises as possible," - emphasized the President.
He recalled that the first trial in Ukraine against a russian war criminal had already begun and would end with the complete win of justice within the international tribunal.
"We will find and bring to justice all those who give criminal orders and those who fulfilled them," - promised Zelenskyy.
Yesterday, the President of Ukraine awarded 210 militaries of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 48 of them posthumously. The title of Hero of Ukraine was posthumously awarded to Captain Serhiy Parkhomenko, Commander of the Aviation Unit of the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade.