Poroshenko, together with Western politicians, met with military personnel in Odesa and handed over a batch of drones and equipment

During the Black Sea Security Forum in Odesa, Petro Poroshenko handed over a large batch of equipment and drones to the Defence Forces. He was joined by forum participants, including former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, former US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor, and Congressmen Jim Slattery and Bob McIver.

‘We should not expect that a comprehensive ceasefire will be signed on Monday. We need to make Putin finally understand that he cannot win this war. The only effective step towards peace is to strengthen the Armed Forces with weapons, money and sanctions pressure on Russia. It is very important that our allies in the United States, the EU, Canada and Australia understand these fundamental points, which I conveyed during the Black Sea Security Forum. I hope that our partners will draw the right conclusions about what is happening on the battlefield right now,’ Poroshenko wrote on social media.

‘In Odesa, we met with the military of the Naval Forces and units defending southern Ukraine. We had the opportunity to hear from the soldiers themselves what is currently lacking on the front lines and in what direction our international partners should work,’ Poroshenko said.

This time, the defenders received cargo worth about 20 million hryvnias – FPV drones, including fibre optic and thermal imaging cameras for working in twilight, a new Aspirin drone detector, charging stations, and day and night Mavics.

Part of this cargo will go to the tank unit of the 126th Brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces, commanded by the legendary Tetiana Chornovol. Before the start of the full-scale invasion, she mastered the ‘Stugna’ and then began to destroy enemy equipment with FPV drones. Tanya shows the drone to her Western guests and explains that in a few hours it will be in combat. ‘Petro Oleksiyovych handed over the weapons to the people who will be using them directly. I will be flying this one myself. We mainly work on vehicles. We even managed to take out the commander of an enemy battalion. This is a thirteen, it is for strikes on the first line of fortifications. Because it easily carries 5 kg. It flies where it needs to,‘ the soldier rejoices.

’As a friend of Ukraine, I know everything that is happening here, and I hope that Ukraine's friends will learn the right lessons from what is happening on the battlefield. It's great to see someone like Petro putting all his personal resources into helping his country win this war. This is the kind of national unity we need to defeat this vicious tyrant,’ says Tony Abbott.

‘President Poroshenko should be thanked for spending his personal resources to support these incredible efforts, which, in my opinion, are capable of truly changing the trajectory of this war. This is a game-changing technology that is changing the war we are seeing here.  And I hope that people in the United States understand how important this is, and that we must adopt this new technology,’ says Jim Slattery. ‘I hope that President Trump realises how important it is for the United States of America to support Ukraine, to remain committed to helping Ukraine until Putin understands that he cannot win this war,’ emphasises the American politician.