Zelenskyy: Additional air defense equipment will be purchased to protect power facilities during the heating season

For the heating season, the Cabinet of Ministers, regional administrations and energy companies will purchase additional air defense equipment to protect the relevant infrastructure from Russian attacks, said president Volodymyr Zelenskyy following a meeting of the supreme commander-in-chief's Staff.

"I held a meeting Staff. There are a lot of details about preparing for the heating season. The first is to monitor the execution of orders and the full implementation of agreements with partners. Also, we have been preparing since summer sectors of our energy sector for the winter. I am grateful to everyone who is involved and fully fulfills the tasks. It is important to stay ahead of the preparation schedule, taking into account all threats," the head of state said.

Secondly, the needs of air defense were discussed at the Staff – Zelenskyy instructed the secretary of the National security and defense council Rustem Umerov coordinate government officials, regional administrations, and energy companies to purchase additional short- and medium-range systems, and increase funding for drone manufacturers.

"The priority is to kill the Shahed. Report on supplies on a weekly basis. We also discussed the protection of power grids and facilities in frontline and border communities, as well as backup supply," the president noted.

Thirdly, the meeting focused on the production and supply of energy resources and electricity generation.

"The teams of Naftogaz and Ukrenergo have important results. Thank you. Further measures to purchase the necessary volumes of gas have been approved," Zelenskyy added.

He also noted that the meeting had a "significant component" on the Air Force: "We are accelerating the delivery of additional air defense systems to protect against missiles. We are counting on the maximum activity of Ukrainian diplomats in relevant contacts with partners."

In addition, the president said that the government is preparing to hold a technological bet with the participation of manufacturers of Ukrainian missiles, key types of drones and air defense tools.

Zelenskyy announced an increase in the production of domestic munitions and noted that the quality of Ukrainian long-range strikes "should increase significantly".

• On the night of August 31, Russians attacked with drones energy infrastructure of Chornomorsk, Odesa region – more than 29,000 customers were left without electricity.
• In the morning of the same day, the occupiers attacked Chernihiv region with drones – in Nizhyn a critical infrastructure facility was hit, and there were power and water outages.