Zelenskyy outlines key tasks for new defence minister

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has outlined the tasks he had set for the newly appointed Minister of Defence Mykhailo Fedorov, the most challenging of which is the protection of Ukraine's airspace.

Source: Zelenskyy during a conversation with journalists

Quote: "There are three key tasks I have set for Minister of Defence Fedorov. Number one is closing the sky – together with the Air Force, Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi, and Commander Kryvonozhko. Closing the sky is important in any case, regardless of how the situation develops. This is their task today. It is extremely difficult, which is precisely why it is number one."

Details: Zelenskyy said that the second task is to deal with the issue of forced conscription.

The third task is to ask Fedorov and the deputy head of the President's Office, Pavlo Palisa, to resolve outstanding issues regarding the professional regular armed forces so that contracts could actually work.

A separate task is to increase the number of drones.

Quote: "Separately, we have the issue of drones and the substitution of artillery, so that we do not overpay by buying both drones and artillery. Because the budget is the budget, and the scale of both artillery and drones is growing – everything is growing. Previously, the military used to say: if there are more drones, there will be less need for artillery. Now the demand is that more drones are needed, and more artillery is also needed. We understand that this is a complex issue – long-range shells. Short-range artillery, frankly, no longer works, because the kill zone is already larger and wider than the shell's effective reach."

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