Air Defense to be Strengthened in Dnipro and Odesa – Zelenskyy

Air defense will be strengthened in Dnipro and Odesa; decisions have been made regarding additional radars, EW systems, and crews. This was stated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UNN reports. 

This afternoon there was another massive attack by Russian drones – a significant number, more than 400 drones since morning alone, of which more than two hundred were "Shaheds." The density of the attack is high, and because of this, although the shoot-down percentage is high – three hundred and eighty-eight drones were shot down – there were still hits. Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Rivne region, Trostyanets in the Vinnytsia region, other regions and communities. We are strengthening all areas of defense. There is already a decision on Dnipro – the military command and the Ministry of Defense analyze every attack and propose solutions. For Dnipro – additional radars, EW, additional crews. There is also a decision on Odesa – there is already a higher shoot-down percentage, but we need it to be even higher 

He noted that Ukraine knows that the Russians are trying to bypass Ukrainian air defense through the density of the attack and the intensity of the strikes.

We will counter this. But we understand that we cannot stop – this is not yet the result that is needed, it is still not enough. More reinforcement is needed for our cities and villages. It is important that every day we work with partners to ensure there are air defense components against missiles 

As a reminder 

As of April 2026, 24 companies have joined the private air defense project.