KHARKIV, Ukraine As Russia edges toward a possible offensive on Kharkiv, some residents flee. Others refuse to leave A 79-year-old woman makes the sign of the cross and, gripping her cane, leaves her home in a quaint village in northeast Ukraine. Torn screens, shattered glass and scorched trees litter the yard of Olha Faichuk’s apartment building in Lukiantsi, north of the city of Kharkiv. Abandoned on a nearby bench is a shrapnel-pierced cellphone that belonged to one of two people killed when a Russian bomb struck, leaving a blackened crater in its wake. “God, forgive me for leaving my home, bless me on my way,” Faichuk said, taking one last look around before slowly shuffling to an evacuation vehicle. Unlike embattled front-line villages further east, attacks on the border village near the Russian region of Belgorod, were rare until a wave of air strikes began in late March. Russia seemingly exploited air defense shortages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, to pummel the region’s energy infrastructure and terrorize its 1.3 million residents. Nearly 200,000 city dwellers remain without power, while 50% of the region’s population still suffers from outages, officials say. As utilities clamber to meet electricity demand before the onset of winter in six months, Russia continues to unleash deadly aerial-glide bombs to drive more residents away. Some officials and analysts warn it could be a concerted effort by Moscow to shape conditions for a summer offensive to seize the city. Acknowledging the need to strengthen air defenses, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv region, said: “We clearly understand that the enemy actually uses this vulnerability every day.” Kharkiv’s struggles reflect a wider problem: As Western allies drag their feet in delivering promised aid to Kyiv, Moscow is patiently escalating until — it hopes — Ukrainian resistance snaps. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #kharkiv
KHARKIV, Ukraine As Russia edges toward a possible offensive on Kharkiv, some residents flee. Others refuse to leave A 79-year-old woman makes the sign of the cross and, gripping her cane, leaves her home in a quaint village in northeast Ukraine. Torn screens, shattered glass and scorched trees litter the yard of Olha Faichuk’s apartment building in Lukiantsi, north of the city of Kharkiv. Abandoned on a nearby bench is a shrapnel-pierced cellphone that belonged to one of two people killed when a Russian bomb struck, leaving a blackened crater in its wake. “God, forgive me for leaving my home, bless me on my way,” Faichuk said, taking one last look around before slowly shuffling to an evacuation vehicle. Unlike embattled front-line villages further east, attacks on the border village near the Russian region of Belgorod, were rare until a wave of air strikes began in late March. Russia seemingly exploited air defense shortages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, to pummel the region’s energy infrastructure and terrorize its 1.3 million residents. Nearly 200,000 city dwellers remain without power, while 50% of the region’s population still suffers from outages, officials say. As utilities clamber to meet electricity demand before the onset of winter in six months, Russia continues to unleash deadly aerial-glide bombs to drive more residents away. Some officials and analysts warn it could be a concerted effort by Moscow to shape conditions for a summer offensive to seize the city. Acknowledging the need to strengthen air defenses, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv region, said: “We clearly understand that the enemy actually uses this vulnerability every day.” Kharkiv’s struggles reflect a wider problem: As Western allies drag their feet in delivering promised aid to Kyiv, Moscow is patiently escalating until — it hopes — Ukrainian resistance snaps. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #kharkiv
KHARKIV, Ukraine As Russia edges toward a possible offensive on Kharkiv, some residents flee. Others refuse to leave A 79-year-old woman makes the sign of the cross and, gripping her cane, leaves her home in a quaint village in northeast Ukraine. Torn screens, shattered glass and scorched trees litter the yard of Olha Faichuk’s apartment building in Lukiantsi, north of the city of Kharkiv. Abandoned on a nearby bench is a shrapnel-pierced cellphone that belonged to one of two people killed when a Russian bomb struck, leaving a blackened crater in its wake. “God, forgive me for leaving my home, bless me on my way,” Faichuk said, taking one last look around before slowly shuffling to an evacuation vehicle. Unlike embattled front-line villages further east, attacks on the border village near the Russian region of Belgorod, were rare until a wave of air strikes began in late March. Russia seemingly exploited air defense shortages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, to pummel the region’s energy infrastructure and terrorize its 1.3 million residents. Nearly 200,000 city dwellers remain without power, while 50% of the region’s population still suffers from outages, officials say. As utilities clamber to meet electricity demand before the onset of winter in six months, Russia continues to unleash deadly aerial-glide bombs to drive more residents away. Some officials and analysts warn it could be a concerted effort by Moscow to shape conditions for a summer offensive to seize the city. Acknowledging the need to strengthen air defenses, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv region, said: “We clearly understand that the enemy actually uses this vulnerability every day.” Kharkiv’s struggles reflect a wider problem: As Western allies drag their feet in delivering promised aid to Kyiv, Moscow is patiently escalating until — it hopes — Ukrainian resistance snaps. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #kharkiv
KHARKIV, Ukraine As Russia edges toward a possible offensive on Kharkiv, some residents flee. Others refuse to leave A 79-year-old woman makes the sign of the cross and, gripping her cane, leaves her home in a quaint village in northeast Ukraine. Torn screens, shattered glass and scorched trees litter the yard of Olha Faichuk’s apartment building in Lukiantsi, north of the city of Kharkiv. Abandoned on a nearby bench is a shrapnel-pierced cellphone that belonged to one of two people killed when a Russian bomb struck, leaving a blackened crater in its wake. “God, forgive me for leaving my home, bless me on my way,” Faichuk said, taking one last look around before slowly shuffling to an evacuation vehicle. Unlike embattled front-line villages further east, attacks on the border village near the Russian region of Belgorod, were rare until a wave of air strikes began in late March. Russia seemingly exploited air defense shortages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, to pummel the region’s energy infrastructure and terrorize its 1.3 million residents. Nearly 200,000 city dwellers remain without power, while 50% of the region’s population still suffers from outages, officials say. As utilities clamber to meet electricity demand before the onset of winter in six months, Russia continues to unleash deadly aerial-glide bombs to drive more residents away. Some officials and analysts warn it could be a concerted effort by Moscow to shape conditions for a summer offensive to seize the city. Acknowledging the need to strengthen air defenses, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv region, said: “We clearly understand that the enemy actually uses this vulnerability every day.” Kharkiv’s struggles reflect a wider problem: As Western allies drag their feet in delivering promised aid to Kyiv, Moscow is patiently escalating until — it hopes — Ukrainian resistance snaps. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #kharkiv
KHARKIV, Ukraine As Russia edges toward a possible offensive on Kharkiv, some residents flee. Others refuse to leave A 79-year-old woman makes the sign of the cross and, gripping her cane, leaves her home in a quaint village in northeast Ukraine. Torn screens, shattered glass and scorched trees litter the yard of Olha Faichuk’s apartment building in Lukiantsi, north of the city of Kharkiv. Abandoned on a nearby bench is a shrapnel-pierced cellphone that belonged to one of two people killed when a Russian bomb struck, leaving a blackened crater in its wake. “God, forgive me for leaving my home, bless me on my way,” Faichuk said, taking one last look around before slowly shuffling to an evacuation vehicle. Unlike embattled front-line villages further east, attacks on the border village near the Russian region of Belgorod, were rare until a wave of air strikes began in late March. Russia seemingly exploited air defense shortages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, to pummel the region’s energy infrastructure and terrorize its 1.3 million residents. Nearly 200,000 city dwellers remain without power, while 50% of the region’s population still suffers from outages, officials say. As utilities clamber to meet electricity demand before the onset of winter in six months, Russia continues to unleash deadly aerial-glide bombs to drive more residents away. Some officials and analysts warn it could be a concerted effort by Moscow to shape conditions for a summer offensive to seize the city. Acknowledging the need to strengthen air defenses, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv region, said: “We clearly understand that the enemy actually uses this vulnerability every day.” Kharkiv’s struggles reflect a wider problem: As Western allies drag their feet in delivering promised aid to Kyiv, Moscow is patiently escalating until — it hopes — Ukrainian resistance snaps. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #kharkiv
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
UKRAINE, POWER PLANT ATTACK “An Armageddon,” recounting the March 22 attack in which Russia unleashed more than 60 exploding drones and 90 missiles across Ukraine. Officials said it was the most brutal attack on the country’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion. “I wasn’t scared at first, but we got scared when we saw the consequences,” said Taras. The renewed intensity is alarming because of the accuracy and volume of recent strikes, signaling to Ukrainian officials that Russia is armed with better intelligence and fresh tactics in its campaign to annihilate the country’s power generation capacity, and bring its economy to a halt. Moscow also appears to have learned how to most effectively take advantage of Ukraine’s air defense gaps. More such attacks are only inevitable, power workers and analysts said, leaving officials scrambling for ways to defend energy assets. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, lost 80 percent of its power generation capacity in large-scale Russian attacks on March 22 and 29, the company said. Thermal and hydrogen plants were destroyed across the country. Russia targeted transmission networks as well, striking transformers and nodes operated by Ukrenergo, undermining Ukraine’s ability to not only generate electricity but distribute it also. The attacks, which struck thermal and hydro-electric plants, plunged large swathes of the country into darkness, not seen since the first days of the full-scale invasion. They also tested Ukraine’s proven resilience. Armed with western air defense systems, power workers were previously able to recover fairly quickly after attacks and restore power lines. That was not so after March 22. The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and was the worst-hit, is still suffering from power outages weeks after the strikes. “Power infrastructure is something everything depends on, if there’s no power, nothing works: Plants don’t work, people are left without internet, you won’t even know when the missiles are flying at you.” #ukraine #russia #invasion #war #powerplant
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
Ukraine ramps up spending on homemade weapons to help repel Russia Ukraine needs any edge it can get to repel Russia from its territory. One emerging bright spot is its small but fast-growing defense industry, which the government is flooding with money in hopes that a surge of homemade weapons and ammunition can help turn the tide. The effort ramped up sharply over the past year as the U.S. and Europe strained to deliver weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is up against a much bigger Russian military backed by a thriving domestic defense industry. The Ukrainian government budgeted nearly $1.4 billion in 2024 to buy and develop weapons at home — 20 times more than before Russia’s full-scale invasion. And in another major shift, a huge portion of weapons are now being bought from privately owned factories. They are sprouting up across the country and rapidly taking over an industry that had been dominated by state-owned companies. A privately owned mortar factory that launched in western Ukraine last year is making roughly 20,000 shells a month. “I feel that we are bringing our country closer to victory,” said Anatolli Kuzmin, the factory’s 64-year-old owner, who used to make farm equipment and fled his home in southern Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Yet like many aspects of Ukraine’s war apparatus, its defense sector has been constrained by a lack of money and manpower – and, according to executives and generals, too much government red tape. A more robust private sector could help root out inefficiencies and enable factories to churn out weapons and ammunition even faster. WARTIME ENTREPRENEURS Kuzmin, the owner of the mortar factory, fled the southern city of Melitopol in 2022 after Russia invaded and seized his factory that mostly made spare parts for farm equipment. He had begun developing a prototype for mortar shells shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Kuzmin took over a sprawling warehouse in western Ukraine last winter. His long-term goals include boosting production to 100,000 shells per month and developing engines and explosives for drones. #ukraine #russia #invasion #war
