Development of the Ukrainian defense industry is an important component of our victory

President of Ukraine

28 November 2023 – 09:37

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met with students and lecturers of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin, and Rector of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” Mykhailo Zgurovsky.

Speaking to the students, Andriy Yermak said that, in accordance with the agreements between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joseph Biden, the first conference on joint Ukrainian-American arms production will be held in Washington on December 6-7.

“This event is extremely important for our defense industry. The event will be attended by representatives of several dozen domestic enterprises, both state-owned and private. Even more companies are from the United States. We look forward to a constructive and substantive dialog that will result in contracts in the future. We will be very happy to involve students and graduates of your university in the conference,” he said.

The Head of the President’s Office thanked Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute students, engineers, designers and all representatives of the military-industrial sector for their contribution to Ukraine’s victory.

“Our military-industrial complex and what we have set as our goal on the President’s instructions is not just a goal, but a matter of our victory,” he emphasized.

According to Andriy Yermak, time is of the essence in a full-scale war, because every minute counts for the lives of our people, our soldiers. Faith in our abilities and work is also crucial.

“That’s why I believe that everything that has already been done – both your Institute of Advanced and Defense Technologies and the Sikorsky Challenge system – really has a huge potential. Even what we have already managed to accomplish this year in terms of our modern Ukrainian technologies in UAVs and other weapons impresses not only us. First of all, it impresses the enemy, but it also impresses our partners,” the Head of the Presidential Office emphasized.

In addition, according to him, the development of the domestic military-industrial complex is an important basis for future security guarantees for Ukraine, which are currently being worked out in the framework of the Vilnius G7 Joint Declaration of Support for our country.

“Of course, the development of the defense industry is one of our top priorities. And today you are the ones who will shape this future,” emphasized Andriy Yermak.

Speaking to Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute students, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov emphasized that their education is one of the components of Ukraine’s future success on the battlefield.

“There should be more innovations that will provide us with an asymmetric advantage. Weapons developed in Ukraine that will defeat Russia will guarantee security for the whole world,” he said.

According to the minister, innovations are our country’s path to victory in the war with Russia, which has enormous technical and human resources.

“We already have significant achievements. Machine gun turrets on mobile platforms that destroy enemy infantry. Reconnaissance and combat UAVs that destroy enemy logistics, MLRS, artillery and command posts. Naval drones, which defeated the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Behind each of these means is an engineer, a researcher, a tester. In particular, these are the graduates of your university as well,” Rustem Umerov said, addressing the students.

He invited young professionals to come to work in design bureaus, military-tech startups, and laboratories of Ukrainian military-industrial plants to apply their knowledge and become co-creators of Ukraine’s victory.

“We have our vision, the President’s vision – victory. We have a plan for victory. Therefore, when I finish this report, we must remember: a) we will win, b) we have a plan, c) we must be in Ukraine, working,” the Defense Minister emphasized.

Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin urged students to join Ukrainian companies engaged in military research and development.

According to him, today’s gunsmith is a young inventor who has created his product, scales it up, and promotes it to the Armed Forces.

“Today’s gunsmith is the one with whom death to the enemy begins. There are people in this room who make Moscow never sleep, Sochi never sleep. And soon other cities of the Russian Federation will not sleep either. We have the biggest war of generations on our land. And it is not only a war of soldiers and generals, it is also a war of engineers. This is a technology race in which we must be faster, smarter, more inventive,” the minister said.

He said that more than 200 companies are now producing autonomous systems that fly, move on land or water, and these companies need new engineers.

The Minister of Strategic Industries noted that since the beginning of the great war, about 2,000 students have completed internships at Ukroboronprom, and a third of them have remained with the company.

“We believe in the Ukrainian defense industry. We believe that Ukrainian weapons can bring us closer to victory. And we believe that high-tech products will be the engine of our economic recovery,” said Oleksandr Kamyshin.

Answering questions from students and professors, the Head of the Presidential Office emphasized that Ukraine continues to receive support from its partners – the United States and the European Union.

“We work tirelessly every day to find approaches, “keys” to each country. We started with the idea that we had to withstand, to prevent even greater occupation of our country. We managed to do that. We started not just defending ourselves, but liberating our lands. We have already liberated 50% of the territory seized by Russians since February 24 last year. And the world understands this,” the Head of the Presidential Office said.

Andriy Yermak noted that today the entire world admires the Ukrainian people, and our country must continue to demonstrate its strength.

“The latest meeting on the presidential initiative, the Peace Formula, held in Malta, was attended by representatives of 66 countries. At the ambassadorial level in Kyiv, this format has already brought together more than 80 countries. I think that the first summit at the level of leaders will bring together about 100 countries. All of these countries respect our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders,” the Head of the Presidential Office emphasized.