Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with other leaders at the G7 summit in Alberta, Canada, June 2025 (Ludovic Marin/AFP)
Saturday’s Coverage: Putin — “The Whole of Ukraine is Ours”
Map: Institute for the Study of War
Ukraine President Voloydmyr Zelensky has called on partners to devote 0.25% of their GDP to help Kyiv’s weapons production.
Zelensky said Ukraine plans to sign agreements this summer to begin exporting weapon production technologies. He explained that Kyiv is in talks with Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, the UK, and Lithuania for joint weapons production.
The President chided western firms for supplying Russia with “machine tools” used to make weapons. He said companies from Germany, the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Japan were among them, and one business “supplying a small number of components from the United States”.
While most of the companies supplying tools to Russia were from China, dozens of western firms are also involved:
We have passed on all this information to all countries, our partners, everyone….We strongly urge everyone to impose sanctions on these companies.
Commander-in-Chief: 82% of Russia’s Attack Drones Downed
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that, despite Kyiv needing many more more surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft missile systems, forces are downing around 82% of Russia’s Iran-made “kamikaze” drones.
“Since we have to save anti-aircraft guided missiles, mobile fire groups are the priority for defending from the Shaheds,” Syrskyi said.
The fire groups’ effectiveness is up to 40%, the commander said.
He noted Ukraine’s evolving tactics to protect civilians: “One promising area in countering Shaheds is the use of light aircraft. There are new projects thanks to financial and material assistance from our foreign partners.”
