Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that his country successfully tested its first domestically produced ballistic missile.
"There was a positive test of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile. I congratulate our military-industrial complex on this," Zelensky said at a press conference following the Ukraine 2024 Independence forum held in the capital Kyiv.
On Saturday, Zelensky announced that Ukraine successfully carried out the first combat use of the domestically-produced Palianytsia long-range missile drone.
"It was designed domestically to destroy the enemy's offensive potential," Zelensky posted on X together with a video, which said the missile drone is powered by a turbojet engine and is launched from a ground-based platform.
No further information has yet been provided about Palianytsia's specifications.
Speaking about Ukraine's ongoing operation in Russia's border region of Kursk, Zelensky denied that Kyiv "occupied" Russian territory.
"This is a defensive operation. We provide the opportunity to create buffer zones. We are trying to prevent the occupation of our land. They have already occupied 27% of our land and we are doing everything to prevent them from occupying more," he said.
He also said that Kyiv's operation in Kursk stopped Russian advances in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.
Zelensky claimed that Russia had similar offensive plans in Ukraine's Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
The Ukrainian president said that Kyiv's actions in Kursk is "one of the points of Ukraine's victory plan," which he said he will present to U.S. President Joe Biden next month.
"And I think it's right to hand over the plan to both Kamala Harris and (former US President Donald) Trump, because we don't know who will be the president of the United States. And we really want to implement this plan," Zelensky added.
Zelensky also spoke about F-16 fighter jets, saying that those delivered to Kyiv shot down some missiles during Russia's airstrikes across the country on Monday.
He said there is "serious damage" to his country's energy infrastructure following Russian airstrikes.
Ukrainian president added that Ukraine will not extend the gas transit agreement with Russia, but it will consider requests from European companies.
Regarding the creation of a ministry to unite Ukrainians living abroad, Zelensky said such a decision is expected to be made in the fall.
"This is a very difficult mission for any ministry. I'm not talking about people, not about personalities, I'm talking about the institutionalization of this process. No one has had such a challenge as returning 7.5 million people.
"We need to bring back the adult population, we need to bring back our children and students without coercion. We need to create all the conditions for them to want to do this," he said.
