Ukraine tripled its weapons production last year and 500 companies are now working in the country’s defence sector, the strategic industries minister has said.
Oleksandr Kamyshin said during a televised address in Kyiv that the figure included 100 state and 400 private companies and that Ukraine this year plans “to considerably increase ammunition production.”
Separately, Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov visited command posts near the front line to analyse the battlefield and boost defences.
Ukraine’s military is struggling to stave off Russian forces along the sprawling front line as Moscow’s full-scale invasion passes its two-year mark.
“We analysed the current situation in detail and discussed the necessary further steps, primarily the protection of troops from drones and strikes by aerial bombs as well as the strengthening of certain areas of the front,” General Syrskyi posted on Telegram along with images of himself and Mr Umerov meeting commanders.
General Syrskyi, who did not say when the visit took place, added that “the situation is complex and requires constant monitoring”.
Russian forces last week captured the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka after a months-long assault and a repressing on several other areas along the front line, Ukrainian authorities say.
“We will win,” he said at a ceremony at Kyiv’s Gostomel airport, which was targeted by Russia in the first days of the all-out assault in 2022.
