Vitaly Sayenko17:29, 14.05.26

The key challenge for Ukraine is strengthening defense against Russian ballistic missiles, the president noted.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Ukrainian military to prepare options for Ukraine’s possible response to the most massive Russian air attack carried out on May 13 and the night of May 14.

The head of state announced this on Telegram following a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Headquarters.

“I instructed the Defense Forces of Ukraine and special services to propose possible formats for our response to this Russian strike,” Zelenskyy emphasized. 

As the president noted, he will also talk in detail with Ukrainian diplomats about the tasks that are currently in the search for missiles for air defense. 

“Everyone should focus on anti-ballistic systems and missiles for them. This is priority number one, and the assessment of the work of Ukrainian diplomacy in May-June will depend, in particular, on the sufficient provision of our air defense forces,” Zelensky added. 

The President recalled that in total, in the waves of massive attacks on May 13 and 14, the Russians used 1,567 drones and 56 missiles of various types. At the same time, the percentage of drones shot down was 94%, and missiles – 73%. 

“The key challenge is ballistics and covering thousands of rear infrastructure facilities and our cities,” the president noted.

Specific instructions were also given to the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Air Force, and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to meet the needs of the Ukrainian air defense forces and increase the supply of necessary equipment, in particular radars.

(C)UNIAN 2026