The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on the international community to strongly condemn another massive combined shelling of Ukrainian cities by Russia on the night of 17 June and to take concrete steps to increase pressure on Russia and strengthen Ukraine.

The aggressor used 440 drones and 32 missiles against Ukraine. The attack was one of the largest during the Russia’s full-scale military invasion. In Kyiv, dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds wounded. Another woman was killed in Odesa. As of now, rescue and search operations are still ongoing. The number of victims may increase.

Once again, Russian criminals targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. Russian strikes damaged a kindergarten, residential buildings, an educational institution and industrial facilities.

We are convinced that Putin deliberately ordered this shelling during the Group of Seven summit to make the leaders of the Group of Seven appear weak. He is deliberately demonstrating his complete disregard for international peace efforts, especially those of the United States.

In the weeks and months before, Ukraine proved its commitment to peace efforts. Our country has accepted the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, sent a high-level delegation to meet with a low-level Russian delegation, proposed realistic steps toward peace, and expressed readiness for a meeting of leaders to end the war.

In turn, Russia has not taken a single constructive step toward peace. Russia continues to reject the US proposal for a lasting ceasefire. Russia issues unacceptable ultimatums and ignores Ukrainian proposals. Russia is avoiding a meeting of leaders that could pave a real path to peace. Instead, Moscow is only intensifying terror, shelling, killing civilians, attacking Ukraine's energy system, and destroying civilian infrastructure.

All of this shows that there is no alternative to increasing pressure on the aggressor. Tougher sanctions, in particular in the energy and banking sectors, as well as strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities will contribute to, rather than hinder, progress toward a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.

Ukraine calls on its partners to strike at the Russian war machine and reduce the price cap for Russian oil from 60 to 30 US dollars per barrel. This will significantly limit the Kremlin's oil export revenues and force Russia to reconsider its aggressive policy.

We call for accelerating the supply of modern air defense systems to Ukraine, including Patriot, NASAMS, IRIS/T systems, as well as additional ammunition to protect Ukrainian sky and save lives.

It is also time to move to the full use and confiscation of immobilized Russian assets to finance Ukraine's defense industry and reconstruction of Ukraine. Such a decision would show that the aggression has not only political but also economic consequences for Russia.

We continue to insist on the policy of peace through strength. Peace through strength means maximum economic pressure on the aggressor, complete cessation of financing its war crimes, disconnection from global financial systems and total isolation of the terrorist regime. Peace through strength implies blocking all channels through which the Kremlin receives resources to continue its war of aggression against Ukraine, including a complete cessation of cooperation with the Russian defense industry and its international suppliers. Peace through strength is the only way to bring a just end to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, as Russia understands only the language of strength.

Every minute we delay tough decisions costs Ukrainian lives. It is time for decisive action to counter Russian aggression and neutralize the Russian threat to Ukraine and the entire Euro-Atlantic community.

In light of the terror against Ukraine, Putin's attempts to portray himself as a “mediator” in the Middle East are particularly cynical. We remind that the criminal regimes in Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang are working together to destabilize the situation in Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region.

Russia is a destroyer of international peace and security, not a partner in its restoration. Counteracting Moscow, not cooperating with it, is the way to strengthen security in Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.

Ukraine is grateful to its partners for their support in countering aggression and bringing peace closer. We expect the Group of Seven leaders' Summit, the EU and NATO summits to take decisive steps that will strengthen Ukraine and bring justice closer to the victory of evil, restore respect for international law in general and the UN Charter in particular.

We regard the decision by the Russian authorities to ban the study of the Ukrainian language in schools in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine as yet another manifestation of Moscow’s genocidal policy.

Imperial Russia, which systematically manipulates the language issue to justify its aggression, is pursuing a deliberate policy of russification, assimilation, genocidal extermination of entire nations, suppression of other cultures, and erasure of national identity.

We remind that over the centuries, Moscow attempted to ban the Ukrainian language more than 130 times. In the end, the authors of these efforts perished along with their decrees, circulars, and denunciations—while the Ukrainian language outlived all its oppressors.

To the Russian chauvinists who have once again decided to “ban” the Ukrainian language in Kherson region, we can respond with the words of a great native of Kherson, Mykola Kulish: “Every word is persuasive when it rings with the sound of weapons behind it!” Today, the Ukrainian language is not unarmed. Behind it stands the strength of the Ukrainian army and its weapons. That is why all Russian “bans” are just as fake and temporary as the Russian occupation itself. 

The occupiers will perish, while Kulish’s Chaplynka and the rest of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and our South were and will remain Ukraine. And when the Russian boot is finally gone from Ukrainian soil, it will be followed by the powerful and resolute Ukrainian word.