Defense Forces continue to destroy Russian saboteurs in Pokrovsk and other areas – Zelenskyy

Ukrainian defenders continue to destroy Russian saboteurs in Pokrovsk and other areas, reported president Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the report of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi.

"Our forces continue to destroy Russian subversive groups in Pokrovsk and other areas. The enemy's tactics remain the same: they are trying to seize new positions at the expense of small groups," the head of state said.

According to him, Ukrainian troops are using all necessary means to detect and neutralize such activities of the invaders.

Earlier, on July 18, Syrskyi said that a Russian subversive and reconnaissance group had tried to infiltrate Pokrovsk, but it was exposed and destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The President also discussed the situation in the border areas with the Chief of the Army Sumy region.

"I am grateful to all the units involved for fully fulfilling their tasks. I would especially like to mention the 25th separate airborne brigade of Sicheslav for its actions in the Pokrovsk sector, and for the defense of Sumy region – the 225th separate assault regiment and the 80th separate airborne assault Galician brigade," Zelenskyy said.

In addition, Syrskyi reported on Ukrainian long-range strikes, including the frequency and effectiveness of deep attacks. Zelenskyy noted that Russian logistics "should suffer significantly in response to the prolongation of this war."

Also, the President added, the head of the Defense Ministry, together with the Minister of Defense Denys Shmyhal and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov these days, "all requests for additional funding for the production and supply of drones are being processed." We are talking about both drones for the front line and interceptor drones to protect Ukrainian settlements from Russian attack UAVs.

"Next week, we will sign the relevant additional contracts," the president announced.

Shmyhal, after a meeting with Umerov and his specialized deputies, reported that Ukraine will scale up domestic production of interceptor drones and purchase from partners those UAVs that have already proven themselves.

• On July 18, Shmyhal met with the head of the discussed plans to supply weapons to the Defense Forces.