Zelenskyy tasks defence minister with closing sky using Ukraine's own air defence

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the priority task for Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is to close the sky, which involves creating Ukraine's own air defence system.

Source: Zelenskyy speaking with journalists on 14 March, as cited by Ukrinform

Quote: "The issue is air defence. Either the United States will give us a licence for Patriot, or we will obtain a licence from one of our European partners, or Ukraine will have its own air defence system sooner. We should not abandon any of these approaches. But we will see which comes first.

Mykhailo [Fedorov – ed.], together with the commander of air defence and the entire private sector, must focus on this issue. Mykhailo has visited the entire private sector and spoken with them. He prepared a report for me. We will take steps regarding air defence and missile production – you will see them. It is a reformatting forward because we simply have no other way…

…When the war ends and everyone gives us security guarantees, a plane will depart from an airport and people still need to be sure that if some random missile arrives, they will be protected. The issue is global protection. This is the number one issue.'

Background: Zelenskyy also said he had agreed with French President Emmanuel Macron to receive a new SAMP/T air defence system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!