A new Ukrainian government, expected to be approved Thursday, will race to expand domestic arms production to meet half the country’s weapons needs within six months as it tries to push back Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
Domestic defense manufacturing already accounts for almost 40% of weapons used by the Ukrainian military, according to Zelenskyy. As uncertainty grows about how many more weapons shipments Western countries can provide — and how quickly — Ukraine is keen to increase its output and widen its strikes on Russian soil.
“What we need is greater capacity to push the war back onto Russia’s territory — back to where the war was brought from,” Zelenskyy said late Wednesday in his nightly video address.
“We must reach the level of 50% Ukrainian-made weapons within the first six months of the new government’s work by expanding our domestic production.”
The need to adequately arm Ukraine’s military is pressing as Russia looks to drive forward its summer offensive and pounds Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and ballistic and cruise missiles.
Meanwhile, it remained unclear when promises of U.S.-made weapons, especially Patriot missile systems crucial for stretched Ukrainian air defenses, might reach Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to send the weaponry, but it will be paid for by European countries.
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, told the Associated Press Thursday that “preparations are underway” for weapons transfers to Ukraine and that NATO is working “very closely” with Germany to transfer Patriot systems.
Grynkewich said at a military event in Wiesbaden, Germany, that he had been ordered to “move (the weapons) out as quickly as possible.” He said the number of weapons being transferred is classified.
“We’re already in preparation phase for the first tranche of capability to start moving with respect to Patriots,” he said.
An expert working group under Grynkewich is to discuss concrete planning “very quickly but also with corresponding caution,” German Defense Ministry spokesperson Mitko Müller said Wednesday.
He said that the “exact modalities” are still being worked out, as are the “modalities of what systems will be supplied.”
He added: “Regarding the systems that we are talking about, I can’t confirm that anything is currently on the way. I’m not aware of that.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte said in Washington on Monday that the alliance is coordinating the military support with funding from allies in Europe and Canada. He said there were commitments from Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada “with more expected to follow.”
Ukraine has also developed its own long-range drones, which it uses to strike deep inside Russia .
Russian air defenses shot down 122 Ukrainian drones overnight, the country’s defense ministry said Thursday. The wave of drones caused flights to be grounded at airports in Moscow and St Petersburg, although most of the drones were reportedly destroyed over the border regions of Bryansk and Kursk.
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Burrows reported from Wiesbaden, Germany. Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
