Zelensky: Ukraine to spend additional $13.5 billion on defense

An additional $13.5 billion will be spent on defense, including military salaries and drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 13 in his nightly video address. 

Zelensky also added that over 170,000 square kilometers of Ukraine's territory remain dangerous due to Russian mines and unexploded shells.

Emergency services have been conducting demining efforts throughout Ukraine on a daily basis. 

As Zelensky noted during one of his nightly addresses in December 2022, "this is the form of Russian terror that will have to be countered for years to come."

There are repeated stories coming out of parts of liberated Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts about civilians getting injured or killed by mine explosions. 

Two civilians were killed and two were injured on March 10 in the village of Ishchenka in Kherson Oblast. A 63-year-old resident of Snizhkivka village near Izium in Kharkiv Oblast was also injured on March 7 by a mine explosion. 

According to Zelensky, there is also news "coming soon" about the fight to bring Russian war criminals to justice.

Zelensky also thanked Canada in his nightly address for expanding sanctions against Russian aluminum and steel imports. 

"We must not only limit the terrorist state's ability to circumvent existing sanctions, but also introduce new ones so that Russia cannot adapt to global pressure," Zelensky said.