Ministry of Defence: About 70% of weapons at the front are internationally supplied

Ivan Havryliuk. Photo by Ukrinform

Approximately 70 per cent of the weapons and military equipment used on the battlefield are provided by international assistance.

This was reported by First Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk in an interview with Ukrinform, answering the question about the percentage of the need that Ukraine received from international partners.

«There is a concept of full requirement for combat operations of maximum intensity and the minimum required requirement for, for example, defensive operations. The full requirement has never been met. Approximately 70% of what the Defence Forces used on the battlefield was international military assistance. We now need support from our partners, especially in the supply of those types of weapons that we do not produce ourselves or produce in insufficient quantities», said Ivan Havryliuk, noting that this primarily concerns air defence systems, heavy armoured vehicles, artillery ammunition of NATO calibres, etc.

He also noted that domestic arms manufacturers are increasing their production volumes and mastering the production of new types of weapons and equipment.

«Government procurement is increasingly focused on domestic producers. For example, last year, almost 2/3 of the contracts for the purchase of weapons for the Armed Forces were signed with Ukrainian manufacturers. We have managed to reduce our dependence on imports, for example, of special armoured vehicles, and Ukraine is approaching self-sufficiency in the production of drones,», he added.

Earlier it was reported that US Special Representative Keith Kellogg rejected the possibility of Ukraine's returning to the status of a nuclear power and the corresponding weapons.