Key developments on Nov. 12: * Ukrainian drone strikes oil depot in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, local official claims * Russia deploys assault groups to Zaporizhzhia Oblast, military says * Ukraine's 2025 budget includes $1.3 billion for weapons production, minister says * Ukrainian volunteers in Poland sign contracts with Armed Forces * British PM Starmer
Some Hr 54.55 billion ($1.3 billion) will be directly allocated for the development and implementation of new technologies, and the expansion of defense production capacity, according to Strategic Industries Minister Herman Smetanin.
The military plant of the German concern Rheinmetall, which opened in late October in Ukraine, is a "legitimate" target for Russian attacks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 29.
"We need to understand here that this can only be done in such a way that if we buy, then Ukraine gets more money. And they will be able to produce more for their army," Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
The U.K. pledged to provide additional long-range weapons, artillery systems, and robotic systems, while French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the possibility of opening a training center for drone operators in France, according to the announcement.
The U.S.-based AeroVironment signed an agreement with a Ukrainian company to localize its production of Switchblade 600 loitering munitions, marking the latest of several recent agreements between Ukrainian and foreign companies to produce weaponry in Ukraine.
French-German defense company KNDS has opened an office in Kyiv to support Ukraine carry out the domestic maintenance and repair of weapons systems, the company announced on Oct. 1.
Ukraine already produces its own 155 mm artillery ammunition, said Oleksandr Kamyshin, newly appointed advisor to the President of Ukraine on strategic issues.
The Kyiv Independent’s Natalia Yermak interviews Ukrainian-Canadian lawyer and business advisor, Daniel Bilak, about the potential for investment in Ukraine and its defense sector.
Ukraine is building weapons underground to supply the military with arms in the event of delays in military aid from abroad, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the Ambrosetti International Economic Forum in Italy on Sept. 7.
Lithuania will allocate 10 million euros ($11 million) to buy new Ukrainian-made Palianytsia missile-drones for Kyiv, former Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin said on Sept. 6.
Speaking at a press conference at the end of August, President Volodymyr Zelensky made a cryptic announcement: Ukraine had carried out a successful test of its first domestic-made ballistic missile. "It may be too early to talk about it but I want to share it with you," President Volodymyr Zelensky
