Ukraine is trying to win the war against Russia by developing and manufacturing its own weapons, as well as seeking partnerships to produce weapons and ammunition with Western allies, Oleksandr Kamyshin, the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, told Time.
According to Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine is taking active measures to increase the number of secret bases and factories where new weapons are tested and produced despite the ongoing Russian invasion and problems in Ukraine’s defense sector.
Ukraine has a large and motivated workforce, hundreds of factories, and tens of thousands of qualified specialists, but it also suffers from mismanagement and constant missile strikes from Russia, Kamyshin told Time.
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Despite the challenges, the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine hopes that Ukraine will strengthen its collaboration with the US and other Western countries, which have supported the Ukrainians with weapons and money but also have strict rules on sharing advanced technology and secrets.
According to Time, a new stage in the Russian-Ukrainian war has begun this winter. Intensive drone strikes on targets deep in Russian territory mark this stage of the war.
Oleksandr Kamyshin told Time that Ukraine launches drones to hit targets inside Russia in the dead of night from secret bases in Ukraine. The Ukrainian military closely guards these bases. Several civilian engineers also have access to the launch, Kamyshin said.
“We don’t have time to test these things [long-range kamikaze drones – ed.] at the range. We test them in combat,” Kamyshin said. “No matter how much we produce in conventional weapons, we cannot catch up with Russia. We need to use advanced technology to find a new approach,” the Minister of Strategic Industries added. He compared the challenge to the story of David and Goliath playing on repeat, with each new phase of the war obliging Ukraine to find a new slingshot.
The biggest challenge for Ukraine in the coming months will be attracting foreign partners to the Ukrainian arms industry and securing the licenses needed to build and repair Western weapons needed to repel the Russian invasion, according to Time. “Our model used to be: Give it to us. Now our model is going to be: Let’s make it together,” Kamyshin told the Time.
According to Oleksandr Kamyshin, all recent strikes on targets in Russia have been carried out by Ukrainian-made drones.
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