Ukraine is accelerating its weapons production due to fear that conflicts such as the one in Israel or a possible fatigue of the West will affect economic and war assistance to Kiev, while its troops repel the offensive of Russian forces in the eastern city of Avdivka.
“I thank all the leaders, all the countries that help us with weapons, equipment and supplies (…), but it is evident that the fundamental direction of the State is our own production, our own weapons, our own ammunition for the forces of defense,” declared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his usual daily message to Ukrainians this Friday.
Ukraine is ready to produce “everything from missiles and drones to armored vehicles and ammunition of the necessary caliber” to “provide our warriors with more Ukrainian weapons capabilities,” according to the head of state. The advisor to the Ukrainian presidential office Mijailo Podoliak assured Ukrainian public television that kyiv will seek to increase the production of long-range missiles to achieve parity with Russia and be able to confront its attacks.
“If we want to have parity, then we need not only to produce drones, but also missiles. And we have already tested experimental prototypes that have a range of 750 to 1,000 kilometers,” he asserted. In that sense, he acknowledged that Ukraine still cannot produce thousands of missiles monthly, but assured that “it is working on it.”
kyiv’s concern regarding its arsenals is natural given the increase in Russian warfare capacity, which has considerably boosted weapons production and could even be accumulating reserves for future offensives. British military intelligence noted today in its daily report that Russia has not used its long-range aviation in the past three weeks and has prioritized drone strikes.
This could mean, he noted, that the Russian military is “preserving its stockpile of AS-23 missiles” to resume its intense airstrikes against Ukraine in winter, just as it did last year, when it brought Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to the brink of collapse.
Meanwhile, the epicenter of the fighting on the Ukrainian front has moved from the south of Ukraine to the east: the Russian Army has been carrying out an intense offensive against the flanks of Avdivka for four days in an attempt to surround this city near Donetsk, capital of the homonymous region annexed by Russia.
The head of the city’s military administration, Vitali Barabash, acknowledged on Ukrainian public television that the fighting is “fierce and without interruption.”
Last night “was very hot” due to the incessant fighting, with artillery duels and light weapons fire, during which the Russian aviation has been very active and the Russians “come out from everywhere like cockroaches, there are many of them.” Enemy forces “use everything they have,” he summarized.
However, according to Barabash, the Ukrainian soldiers “have held their positions for four days, I am sure they will resist, because they are not people, they are titans.” The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrí Yermak, denounced on Telegram that the Russians had used phosphorus bombs, the use of which is prohibited by international conventions, in this city, which had an estimated population of about 31,000 before the war. population.
According to Barabash, there are currently about 1,600 people left in the city, a Ukrainian stronghold since 2014.
The American Institute for War Studies (ISW) estimated that Russian forces have taken 4.52 square kilometers of territory around Avdivka in an offensive that would have caused the Russian side to lose at least one battalion tactical group in vehicles armored. In view of this, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have sent reinforcements to Avdivka, said today Yan Gagin, advisor to the head of the Russian administration of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin.
“The enemy has transferred reserve forces from the Artiomovsk front (Bajmut, for Ukraine) to the Avdivka front,” he told the official Russian agency TASS. He added that this decision by the Ukrainian military command, which he described as “risky and almost useless,” will not influence the performance of stocks in the “hottest sectors of the front” as it “simply leads to new cash losses.”
