- Zelenskyy said 30% of the military equipment Ukraine used in 2024 was domestically made.
- Ukraine is manufacturing more and more of its own weapons to fight back against Russia.
- Western weapons companies have also opened facilities in the country to feed its war efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 30% of the military equipment Ukraine used in 2024 was domestically made, with Western nations’ support not enough to push back against Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskyy said in a speech on New Year’s Eve that “30% of everything our guys had on the battlefield this year – all this was made in Ukraine.”
He added that the minds and efforts of people who work in the country’s defense industry “have made us stronger.”
Ukraine’s military industry has soared since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine is making more and more of its own weaponry, like naval drones, howitzers, and glide bombs. It also manufactures its own missiles and successfully tested its first homemade ballistic missile in August.
An increasing number of Western manufacturers are also setting up operations in Ukraine. These include AeroVironment, an American defense contractor headquartered in Virginia, German arms maker Rheinmetall, and BAE, a major British defense firm.
In his speech, Zelenskyy said that at one facility, he asked a young engineer, “How did you manage to achieve so much? How were these people able to do all of this?”
He said the man joked: “They’re not just people, they’re missiles.”
Ukraine’s allies have given the country billions of dollars worth of military support. But Ukraine is facing off against a far larger Russian military, and the war’s grinding, brutal nature is seeing both sides expend vast amounts of equipment.
Ukraine has, at times, run critically low on key weaponry and ammunition.
It’s currently running short on US-made long-range ATACMS missiles which can hit targets inside Russia, The New York Times reported last week.
Ukraine has repeatedly said that it needs more weaponry and defensive gear in order to protect itself, and warfare experts have accused the West of drip-feeding aid to Ukraine rather than giving it enough to make a major difference on the battlefield.
Soldiers fighting in Ukraine have said that the way military aid arrives can make long-term planning and strategizing a challenge.
President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House could also lead to Ukraine needing to rely more on its own supplies, with Trump previously criticizing the scale of US aid to Ukraine.
