Audit of partner agreements, war funding, air defence: Zelenskyy outlines expectations from Defence Ministry under new chief

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has introduced the new Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara and outlined the priority tasks for the Ministry of Defence.

Source: Zelenskyy on social media

Quote: "I expect the Ministry of Defence and our defence and security forces to work in coordination. It is important to conduct an audit of all agreements with our partners. What has been implemented and what is still awaiting implementation. Air defence and anti-ballistic systems are the key priority, especially before winter.

Yevhenii Khmara has extensive experience in our deepstrike operations – going back to his time at the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). I expect there will be more operations, and I am confident that Yevhenii will continue to be personally involved in this area."

Details: Regarding mobilisation and military contracts, as well as rotations, the head of state stressed that real decisions and real proposals are needed. Zelenskyy said he expects systematic joint work in this area and a more humane and systematic approach to resolving organisational issues within the armed forces.

The president also said that one of the greatest challenges at present is funding, primarily in Ukraine's defence sector.

"The necessary resources must be found. And I believe this is the greatest challenge we have faced. The war has become more expensive. And this is a fact. More resources are needed… This must also be a joint effort by the entire state," Zelenskyy said.

Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara in turn noted that he clearly understands the president's task of accelerating Ukrainian ballistic and anti-ballistic production programmes.

"The armed forces need weapons. The supply system must operate at the pace of war. We must protect our skies from Russian ballistic missiles," the new defence minister stressed.

Background:

• On 19 August, the Ukrainian Parliament appointed former acting head of the SSU Yevhenii Khmara as Ukraine's new defence minister with 312 votes.
• Activists who have been protesting since 16 July for the return of Mykhailo Fedorov to the position of defence minister reacted negatively to the news.
• The Ministry of Defence clarified that Khmara has been discharged from military service on the basis of subparagraph "e" of paragraph 3 of Article 26.5 of the law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service".

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