With strong Western backing, and having received many tens of billions of dollars over the past 2+ years, Ukraine has continued to achieve advances in its domestic military-industrial capabilities, even while it is getting pounded by unrelenting Russian aerial assaults.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday announced for that for the first time ever his armed forces have conduced a successful test of a domestically-produced ballistic missile.

Illustrative file image: Reuters

“What other developments are there in Ukraine? I thought it was too early to talk about it, but… There was a positive test of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile. I congratulate our military production complex on this,” he said at a press conference in Kiev. No evidence or video of the launch was provided.

The timing of the development is surprising given the last 48 hours of heavy Russian missile and drone bombardment, which has by and large targeted energy infrastructure, resulting in nationwide blackouts and a state of emergency.

There were no other details revealed other that it was ‘positive’. But Zelensky said he shared what he did, even though he has to keep details secret, “so that Ukrainian society would know and appreciate domestic defense producers working 24/7.”

Among the long-term aims of Western support to Ukraine is that it would one day establish its own robust weapons manufacturing capability. 

Ukraine has a program called the “ZBROYARI” initiative, which is dedicated to attracting Western funding for a domestic defense and technology sector. If Zelensky’s claims of achieving a ballistic domestic missile are accurate, this would provide confirmation that these efforts are paying off.

While the vast majority of aid given to Ukraine is in the form of direct weapons shipments, the countries of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada have lately led to way in providing funds for Ukrainian factories to push out weapons for the nation’s armed forces.

🚀Zelensky says Ukraine has successfully tested an indigenously developed ballistic missile. pic.twitter.com/kzMxCUj0N2

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) August 27, 2024

One key and dire need remains artillery shells. Ukraine has been blowing through them so fast, that Western stockpiles are expected to take years to replenish. On the other side, Russia is in a much better position to unleash regular shelling along the front lines, and this is one of the reasons Ukraine keeps losing ground in the Donbass.