Ukraine has not surrendered its airspace to Russia and is shooting down more than 90% of attack drones: Zelenskyy congratulated the Air Force on its holiday

This was reported by the Office of the President.

During the celebrations, the head of state emphasized that the Air Force is one of the key components of Ukraine’s defense and largely determines the course of modern warfare.

According to Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian military has not allowed Russia to destroy the Air Force. And although “ballistic missiles remain a problem,” Ukraine is currently successfully destroying cruise missiles, attack drones, and—when the necessary resources are available—ballistic targets. In particular, he noted that the interception rate for attack drones exceeds 90%.

The President posthumously awarded the “Cross of Combat Merit” to Colonel Oleksandr Dovgach and presented the “Gold Star” orders to two Heroes of Ukraine — Senior Sergeant Dmytro Grabovskyi and Major Oleksii Zhded.

In addition, state awards were presented to Air Force personnel, including Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Anatoliy Kryvonozhko, who was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 1st Class.

Zelenskyy also presented a battle flag to the Air Force’s 640th Separate Anti-Aircraft Machine-Gun Battalion, conferred honorary designations on the 39thth Tactical Aviation Brigade and the 37th Separate Aviation Squadron of Unmanned Aerial Systems, and promoted Serhiy Yalyshev, commander of the “Center” Air Command, to the rank of major general.

As a reminder, Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously called on international partners to approve the transfer of additional missiles to Ukraine for its Patriot air defense systems, as well as to intensify sanctions pressure on Russia. In particular, these sanctions target legal entities and individuals involved in the production of Russian ballistic missiles and launchers, as well as the supply of components to the Russian military-industrial complex.