The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, called on local communities to make defense their priority.
“Our soldiers, our entire people, must feel that Ukrainian communities consider defense the first priority, as I mentioned today. And you all see the priorities, the needs of combat brigades, the needs of our other units in which soldiers serve, from your communities, from every city of Ukraine, from every village,” he said, speaking at a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities on Sunday in Ivano – Frankivsk.
“All of you see the needs of the border regions – constantly under blows, under attacks, under missile fire. And that’s why I’m asking: there is a task to help the front today, to help volunteers in many communities. There are tasks related to the treatment and rehabilitation of our wounded civilians. Budget expenditures should reflect exactly this priority understanding of tasks”, – the president said.
According to him, “now is definitely not the time to replace the paving stones. We will not drive the enemy out of our state with cobblestones. Therefore, excuse me, we will decorate the cities that won, let’s say so.”
“Also, extra-budgetary sources should be sought for other areas of work. You can talk to donors. And I think that many people, companies, leaders of other states who constantly want to help, see our priorities, are ready to help with this at our level as well,” Zelenskyy said.
