Russia receives "thousands of components" for weapons from other countries: key points from Zelenskyy's address

Work continues after last night’s Russian strike in Poltava. At the moment of the publication, 17 people are reported injured and 8 killed.

Twenty-two people have been rescued, but emergency workers are still searching for those who may be trapped under the rubble.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about this in his evening address to Ukrainians on Friday, January 31.

"In total, just during that night, the Russians used 165 missiles and drones of various types. In addition to Poltava region, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions were also under attack. 

Odesa is recovering from yesterday's strikes on the city center. Museums, the philharmonic hall, many historic buildings, and the famous Odesa hotel were damaged. The attack on Odesa affected not only Ukrainians but even Norwegian diplomats working in Ukraine," the President said.

He emphasized that Russian terror would be impossible without foreign-made components that, despite sanctions, Russia continues to procure and use to manufacture its weapons.

"They would not be able to inflict such damage on their own, so intensively and literally every night. Every Russian "Shahed", every Russian missile consists of components produced in other countries. A single night of Russian strikes – 165 attack units, including "Iskanders", "Kalibrs" and other killing machines – means hundreds, even thousands of components from other countries, including Europe, China, and even America," Zelenskyy noted.

He stressed that Russia must be deprived of the ability to "destroy the lives of other nations."

"It is critically important that sanctions be truly strong and impossible to bypass under any circumstances. There must be no way for Russia to receive critical components for its defense production. Violating sanctions should be regarded as complicity in the war, and those who help destroy lives must be held accountable," the President stated.

He added that the government is working to secure more resources from partners to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense.

"Protecting against attacks is an absolute priority. Much remains to be done, but every partner in the world who helps with this is saving lives. And right now, everyone in the world should be thinking about this: about life, about joint efforts, about pressure on the aggressor, and about bringing true peace closer. A peace that Russia will not grant, but one that it can only be forced into," Zelenskyy concluded.

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