After months of Ukraine’s pleading for permission to strike deep inside Russia with Western weapons, allies have appeared to shift their focus on helping Ukraine develop its long range striking capabilities.
Ukraine claims it has the ability to produce drones and missiles that it desperately needs for deep-into-Russian strikes, but it only needs financial support from Western allies.
Alexander Kamyshin is the advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky for strategic matters. He told the Kyiv Independent, on October 24, that “we have all the knowledge and all the capabilities in place.”
Kamyshin is the former Minister of Strategic Industries, who oversaw Ukraine’s domestic weapons manufacturing for an year and a quarter before taking on his advisor role last month. He said Kyiv was asking for financial support from its allies to achieve its battlefield tested innovation and production capacity.
He spoke after Zelensky, along with other Ukrainian officials, had pleaded for months for the U.S. to approve the use their missiles to strike deep inside Russia. Kyiv has not given up despite the apparent failure of this effort.
Ukraine has relied heavily so far on massive weaponry supplied by NATO members. But Kamyshin said Ukraine, with funding, could produce more sophisticated equipment using the invaluable experience gained from more than two-and-a-half years of fighting against Russia’s full scale invasion.
“Our capabilities are much higher than the available funding, so it is a significant amount of cash, but we discuss with our partners,” Kamyshin, refusing to disclose the estimated amount needed.
On Oct. 21, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists that the U.S. will provide Ukraine with $1.6billion for its domestic production of long-range weapons. The president announced that Ukraine would receive a first tranche of $800m in “coming days” and a second tranche of $700m to $800m afterward. This was following the visit of U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin to Kyiv this week.
At a September event, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that Ukraine’s domestic production potential could reach $20 billion if foreign investment is made. This would be more than three times last year’s estimated projection for 2024.
After Kyiv’s repeated requests for permission to strike deep inside Russia with Western weapons, the Western allies have now shifted their focus to investing substantial funds in Ukraine’s long range strike development instead of providing their own kits.
Early November will see the U.S. presidential elections, which are of great importance. The future of Western military assistance is uncertain. Both presidential candidates are vague about their Ukraine policies, with Donald Trump being skeptical of further U.S. assistance for Kyiv while Vice President Kamala Harri on the Democratic ticket is not speaking to it in detail.
Despite the fact that Moscow controls the majority of the frontline, Kyiv has regularly attacked targets such as oil refineries, airfields, and arms depots located hundreds of kilometers into Russia. Ukraine’s slingshot attacks deep into Russia are crucial to reduce the larger foe’s ability to fight from afar.
“We proved that our strikes could reach deep into Russia. For that reason, we think that funding the purchase of goods made in Ukraine would be a good decision for our partners,” Kamyshin stated, referring to a series of strikes.
His comments also refers to the technological advancements made in Kyiv, which could be shared with allies for the fast-developing future war tactics, including the massive usage of drones on the air, the ground, and the sea in an asymmetrical war where Russia has a conventional firepower advantage.
Kamyshin stated that Ukraine has “commitments”, including from allies such as the U.S.A., Denmark and Lithuania, to finance the procurement of Ukrainian deep-strike capability.
Kamyshin stated, “At this point, we’re close to finalizing the funding arrangements for this procurement.”
Increasing numbers of Western allies are financing Ukrainian weaponry development, and have undertaken joint production projects in order to compete with Russia’s massive Soviet era stockpiles using cutting-edge technology.
John Healey, the U.K. defense secretary, also announced on October 22 that his country will lend almost $3 billion to the production of long range drones.
Lithuania announced in September it will invest $11 million to develop Ukraine’s long range “Palianytsia weapon”. Zelensky confirmed that the new Ukrainian “missile-drone” was successfully used in late August.
“All coproduction and all investments are very important for us.” This is a top priority for us today,” Zelensky stated during the September visit of Lithuanian president Gitanas Nuseda.
“Right away, everyone can see the success of Ukraine in developing and deploying long-range weapons as well as long-range drones.”
Zelensky stated at the Second International Forum of Defense Industries held in October that Ukraine is now able to produce 4 million drones per year and has contracts for 1.5 million. Ukraine has not revealed more information about missiles because the subject is sensitive.
Kamyshin refused to reveal details about the long range weapons being developed. This included whether they would include Ukraine’s Hrim-2 (Grim-2) ballistic missile. In 2022, a Ukrainian-developed missile called Neptune was used to sink the Moskva – the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, based on the occupied Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine has made great progress in developing its drones. Kamyshin stated that Ukraine began striking deep inside Russia by the end of 2023 and that Ukrainian engineering capabilities had been “growing ever since.”
Kamyshin stated that “we see an increase in interest from our Western allies to fund things procured by Ukrainian producers.”
“We proved they are capable.”
Asami Terajima works as a reporter for the Kyiv Independent. She was a business journalist for the Kyiv Post, focusing on international energy, infrastructure and investment, as well as trade. Terajima, originally from Japan, moved to Ukraine as a child and earned a bachelor’s in Business Administration. She was awarded the George Weidenfeld Prize and the Thomson Reuters Foundation Kurt Schork International Journalism Award 2023 in the Local Reporter category. She was also included in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: young and bold” 2023 list for emerging media makers in Ukraine. Read more
Read More @ kyivindependent.com