Zelenskyy holds meeting of Staff of Supreme Commander-in-Chief: Issues raised by military discussed

"I held a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. We discussed exactly those issues raised by our soldiers at the front, which I instructed government officials to work on. There are decisions," Zelenskyy said.

According to him, the first decision concerns pickups, ATVs, and other equipment that can now be purchased using direct funding for combat brigades.

"This will work the same way as the funds allocated to brigades for purchasing drones. We are enabling the purchase not only of new pickups but also of those that have already been used. This is exactly what was discussed in every brigade. This week, government officials will formalize the decisions in documents so that this opportunity will be available already in August," the president noted.

He also instructed to significantly increase funding for combat units.

"And this should be fair — brigades must really receive more resources. The updated rules are: 7 million hryvnias per brigade, calculated based on each battalion participating in combat operations, which means an increase of tens of millions of hryvnias," Zelenskyy added.

The third decision is to significantly simplify and digitize the write-off of property. The government will change the relevant documents, providing more possibilities for corps commanders and brigade commanders. The write-off periods will also be shortened.

"Another sensitive issue is the award procedure. Unfortunately, it often happens that the time between submitting a nomination for an award and its actual presentation to a soldier is several months, half a year, or even more. I instructed to minimize the procedures, remove unnecessary approvals and bureaucracy, and modernize the award documents. Everything needs to be made contemporary," the president explained.

According to him, the Ministry of Defense has developed proposals on how to do this and what to shorten, and the changes will be implemented shortly. Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal will present all the details.

"There were also reports at the Headquarters on some other issues discussed with battalion commanders during my trips to the Kharkiv and Sumy regions. We remember everything that was said. Decisions are being prepared," Zelenskyy added.

Zelenskyy instructed to expand direct funding for brigades

Direct funding for brigades to purchase drones is already in place in Ukraine.

Recently, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed to expand the military’s ability to independently purchase necessary weapons and equipment.

"It is very important now to give brigades more opportunities to independently — according to their needs and choices — also purchase pickups and other necessary means," the president said.