President Volodymyr Zelensky has tasked Ukraine’s newly appointed Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara with expanding the scope of Ukraine’s long-range strikes, strengthening air defense and overhauling defense production, procurement and frontline supply. “I expect the Ministry of Defense to expand the scope of our long-range strikes, to work with Ukrainian weapons manufacturers to provide more capabilities to protect Ukrainian skies, and to work with our partners to strengthen our defensive operations and offensive actions,” Zelensky said in his evening address on Wednesday, Aug. 19.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The push to broaden Ukraine’s deep-strike operations comes amid an intensified aerial campaign by Kyiv. Zelensky said Khmara’s broader mandate is to fundamentally reconfigure Ukraine’s defense system as the country prepares for another winter of war. “My main task for Ukraine’s defense minister in the current circumstances is to genuinely reconfigure our defense system, our production and procurement system, and our system for supplying the troops,” Zelensky said. The president stressed that Ukrainian forces must have everything necessary to repel Russian strikes, hold positions on the front, conduct active operations and deliver strikes against Russia that Moscow will feel. Zelensky pointed to Khmara’s previous service with the Security Service of Ukraine’s Alpha Special Operations Center as evidence that the new defense chief is capable of delivering results rather than promises.