President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has disclosed that the newly approved Ukrainian government 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.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s domestic defense manufacturing already accounts for almost 40% of weapons used by the Ukrainian military.
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.
“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.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine has also developed its own long-range drones, which it uses to strike deep inside Russia.
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.
The country’s defense ministry said that Russian air defenses shot down 122 Ukrainian drones overnight, 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.
The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia attacked Ukraine with 64 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, killing at least one person. Officials stated that he assault centered on the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region.
Swiss Patriot Order Diverted To Help Ukraine
Meanwhile, Switzerland disclosed that the US 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.
The Swiss Defense Ministry, which in 2022 ordered five Patriot systems, said that it has been informed by the US 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 that Washington informed it of the delay on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, adding that it was unclear how many systems would be affected.
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.
US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said that he couldn’t give a timeframe for when Ukraine might get extra foreign weapons. He told reporters in Brussels, “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.
“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.”
Matthew Whitaker
British Defense Secretary, John Healey also said that he and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius will chair a meeting of Ukraine’s allies on Monday to discuss US President, Donald Trump’s weapons plans.
Healey said that US 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 a news agency that “preparations are underway” for weapons transfers to Ukraine and that NATO is working “very closely” with Germany to transfer Patriot systems.
