With the "largest war of generation" unfolding on its territories, Ukraine is trying to keep up with the demand for weapons and ammunition necessary to put up a fight in this war. But the country is still "far from the level we need" in terms own arms production, stressed Oleksandr Kamyshyn, the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, in an interview to journalist Serhii Peichev.
"Indeed, partly the reason why there was twice as much made in June than over the last year is not because that many were produced in June but because that few were made in 2022," Kamyshyn explained as the question came up.
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Some of the military factories had days off on weekends, "It was surprising to me, on the second year of war," the minister said. Oleksandr Kamyshyn entered office as the minister for Ukraine's strategic industries in March 2023. Now all the plants are working "in a rhythmic and coordinated way," he noted.
The russian defense industry has been working non-stop for the last 20 years, the minister pointed out, in contrast, Ukraine "produced zero ammunition in 2021" – due to the classified character of this information, Defense Express could not verify this statement.
Kamyshyn believes that after the war has ended, defense industry should become a driving power of Ukrainian economic reconstruction and, moreover, secure its place as one of the country's key branches of economy.
"We have to build the arsenal of the free world. For far too long we walked down the path of Europe's 'granary' by focusing on agriculture. Today, we need to turn a prudent focus toward the defense industry."
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