#Ukraine Defence Ministry

In his address to the Ukrainian Parliament, Mykhailo Fedorov, then a potential candidate for Defense Minister, stated that before Russia’s full-scale invasion, there was not a single private company in Ukraine producing missiles or robots. Today, there are dozens of both. This, he said, is the work of his team—and the clearest reflection of its drive to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

Self-reliance has become the defining narrative for Ukraine’s sprouting defense industry. Foreign military aid played a key role in Ukraine’s early successes, but years of dependence on this aid exposed huge gaps in that framework, especially when coupled with stagnation in political will and slow bureaucratic processes.