Ukraine wants to produce significantly more weapons in its own country. This was announced by President Zelenskyy. In addition to artillery weapons and ammunition, drones, rockets and armored vehicles should also be produced.
After more than a year and a half of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced a maximum increase in arms production to fight the Russian invasion. In addition to artillery weapons and ammunition, drones, rockets and armored vehicles should also be manufactured in the country. “We are increasing the production volume to the maximum. Ukraine can do it. The financing is in place. Our defense industry will bring good results,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message. The Ukrainian leadership has repeatedly announced plans to turn the country into one of the largest arms producers.
meeting with the defense industry
According to Selenskyj, he met with representatives of the defense industry so that production could be further ramped up. The country is dependent on large quantities of ammunition and weapons in its counter-offensive to liberate the occupied areas, which has been sluggish for weeks. The country relies primarily on the military aid of Western allies.
Zelenskyj once again reiterated that Ukraine must also create the conditions for the deployment of new combat aircraft. The government in Kiev hopes that the F-16 fighter jets announced by the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway will be delivered soon. Everything had been done politically for the delivery. But now the infrastructure for accommodating the fighter jets must also be prepared. “That’s a military task,” said the President.
At the same time, Zelenskyy instructed the military to make preparations for the winter, for example to protect the energy infrastructure that Russia has repeatedly shelled in the past. Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression since February 24, 2022.
Kievs Secretary of Defense: No new mobilization necessary
However, there is currently no need for a new mobilization – at least according to the assessment of the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksey Resnikov. Ukrainian losses are many times lower than those of the Russian occupiers. He did not give numbers. “But there is no reason to say that our situation is critical and that we need to increase,” the minister told journalists, according to the Interfax-Ukraina news agency.
According to conflicting information from Kiev, Resnikov stated that further mobilizations were planned, that there were already established benchmarks for conscription that first had to be met. It is therefore not necessary to set new quotas.
Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are obliged to do military service
Most recently, when asked whether more recruits should be called up in the future in view of the high losses, Zelenskyj also explained that the military leadership was asking for more soldiers to be mobilized. Above all, however, those men are now to be called up for military service who are already subject to the previous mobilization but have not yet been drafted.
In addition, after numerous scandals in district military replacement offices, Selenskyj had the leadership there replaced. After the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine declared martial law. All men between the ages of 18 and 60 are therefore generally obliged to do military service and can be called up – unless they are exempt from service for health or social reasons, for example because they are single fathers.
The exact number of those called up so far is not known. It’s hundreds of thousands. Because of the losses at the front, new recruits have to be trained and sent into battle again and again.