Ukraine to Build Underground Defense Plants and Relocate Production — Defense Ministry

Ukrainian defense industry enterprises have received more than UAH 1.5 billion in state support to resume operations after Russian strikes.

According to Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s defense industry is steadily increasing its capacity, and the share of domestically produced weapons in supplies to the Defense Forces continues to rise.

The mechanism for financing enterprises damaged in Russian attacks was updated in the summer at the initiative of the Defense Ministry. This enabled rapid funding allocation and the start of restoration work.

The support became possible following amendments to the government resolution on the use of budget funds for defense-industry development, new technologies, and expanded production capacity. The Ministry shared that a comprehensive plan of urgent measures is being developed in parallel to ensure the stable operation of defense enterprises under current conditions.

A key element of the plan is changing the geography of production and relocating or duplicating the capacity of the most critical defense-industry enterprises.

Relocation is primarily taking place from areas where the Russian military is actively using glide bombs, which pose constant risks to production.

Separately, work is underway to build underground production facilities to ensure secure, uninterrupted manufacturing of military equipment.

The Defense Ministry says these measures aim to strengthen the long-term resilience of Ukraine’s defense industry and ensure the ability to supply the front regardless of the intensity of Russian attacks.

The EU recently approved a program to support Ukraine’s defense industry and its integration with the bloc’s defense sector.