Ukraine to boost domestic arms production to counter Russia’s invasion, says Zelenskyy

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A new Ukrainian government approved Thursday will race to expand domestic arms production to meet half the country’s weapons needs within six months as it tries to push back Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Meanwhile, Switzerland said Thursday that the U.S. Defense Department had informed it that Washington is diverting a Swiss order for Patriot air defense systems to help Ukraine, which badly needs to improve its response to increasingly heavy Russian aerial attacks.

Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine

The Swiss Defense Ministry, which in 2022 ordered five Patriot systems, said Thursday it has been informed by the U.S. Defense Department that it will “reprioritize the delivery of Patriot systems to support Ukraine.”

It was not immediately clear whether the Swiss-ordered Patriots would go directly to Ukraine or would replace units in other European countries that may be donated to Kyiv.

Delivery to Switzerland of the systems, worth billions of dollars, was scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2028. But the Swiss government said Washington informed it of the delay on Wednesday, adding that it was unclear how many systems would be affected.

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The need to adequately arm Ukraine’s military is pressing as Russia looks to drive forward its summer offensive after three years of war and pounds Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and ballistic and cruise missiles.

It remains unclear when the promised U.S.-made weapons, especially the Patriot systems, might reach Ukraine. Trump has agreed to send the weaponry, but it will be paid for by European countries.

No timeframe for foreign weapons in Ukraine

The U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said he couldn’t give a timeframe for when Ukraine might get extra foreign weapons.

“We are all moving with haste to facilitate this and get this done. Things are actually moving very quickly, but I can’t verify a date that this will all be completed. I think it’s going to be an ongoing movement,” he told reporters in Brussels.

“The plan is that there will be American-made defense equipment, capabilities, that will be sold to our European allies, that they will provide to Ukraine,” he said.

British Defense Secretary John Healey said Thursday he and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius will chair a meeting of Ukraine’s allies on Monday to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s weapons plans. Healey said U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and NATO leader Mark Rutte will attend the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, told The Associated Press Thursday that “preparations are underway” for weapons transfers to Ukraine and that NATO is working “very closely” with Germany to transfer Patriot systems.

Grynkewich said at a military event in Wiesbaden, Germany, that he had been ordered to “move (the weapons) out as quickly as possible.” He said the number of weapons being transferred is classified.

German Defense Ministry spokesperson Mitko Müller said Wednesday he couldn’t confirm that anything is currently on its way to Ukraine.

Rutte, the NATO chief, said in Washington on Monday that the alliance is coordinating the military support with funding from allies in Europe and Canada. He said there were commitments from Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada, “with more expected to follow.”

Ukraine now makes 40% of its own weapons

Ukraine’s domestic defense manufacturing already accounts for almost 40% of weapons used by the Ukrainian military, according to Zelenskyy. As uncertainty grows about how many more weapons shipments Western countries can provide — and how quickly — Ukraine is keen to increase its output and widen its strikes on Russian soil.

“What we need is greater capacity to push the war back onto Russia’s territory — back to where the war was brought from,” Zelenskyy said late Wednesday in his nightly video address.

“We must reach the level of 50% Ukrainian-made weapons within the first six months of the new government’s work by expanding our domestic production.”

Ukraine has also developed its own long-range drones, which it uses to strike deep inside Russia .

Russian air defenses shot down 122 Ukrainian drones overnight, the country’s defense ministry said Thursday. The wave of drones caused flights to be grounded at airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg, although most of the drones were reportedly destroyed over the border regions of Bryansk and Kursk.

Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 64 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, killing at least one person, the Ukrainian air force reported. The assault centered on the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region, officials said.

In other developments:

Russia on Thursday sent to Ukraine 1,000 bodies, including some of the country’s fallen soldiers, the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said.

At the same time, Russia received the bodies of 19 soldiers, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said.

The exchange was part of a deal reached at direct peace talks last May and June that produced few other agreements between the sides.

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Burrows reported from Wiesbaden, Germany. Geir Moulson in Berlin and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine