Ukraine triples arms production amid conflict, expects major EU financial aid in 2024

Kamyshin noted: "We're referring to approximately 100 state corporations and around 400 private firms. In 2024, we plan to significantly ramp up our ammunition production." The content of the minister's comments at the "Ukraine. The Year 2024" forum was reported by both Reuters agency and the RBK-Ukraine portal.

Over recent months, numerous reports have been published by both Ukrainian and Western media, highlighting the urgent needs of the Ukrainian armed forces, particularly in terms of artillery ammunition.

According to Major Tanel Tatsi, commander of the artillery forces of the Estonian army, it was specifically due to these shortages of artillery and anti-aircraft missiles that led the Ukrainian army to pull back from Avdiivka in the Donetsk region in mid-February.

Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine's Prime Minister, stated that Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, reassured him that the first installment of new aid for Ukraine, totaling approximately $5.1 billion, is set to be transferred in March. This monetary aid belongs to a new package worth an estimated $56.7 billion.

The financial aid for Ukraine, Ukrainian exports, and cooperation in the defense industry were the topics of discussion between Shmyhal and von der Leyen in Kyiv on Saturday, as was reported by the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

"Our conversation revolved around our cooperation in the defense industry and we coordinated the next steps for the Ukraine Facility initiative, which offers funding of about $56.7 billion over a period of four years. Ms. Ursula mentioned that the first installment of roughly $5.1 billion will be transferred in March," wrote Shmyhal on Telegram.

In February 2022, Russia launched an assault on Ukraine from the north, east, and south, but failed to capture the country's capital, Kiev, among other places. By April of the same year, Russian troops were driven out from the northern parts of the country, including the Kiev region. During an autumn counteroffensive, Ukrainians liberated some portions of the territory that were earlier seized in the southern and eastern parts of the country, particularly in the Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive initiated in June 2023, did not yield significant victories. The conflict became a series of positional battles, primarily taking place in select locations in the Donbas, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in more than 10,000 civilian casualties, approximately double the number of people injured, and forced several million Ukrainians to flee their homes. The halted shipments of Ukrainian grain have caused a food crisis in the world's poorest regions. Furthermore, the war-engendered energy crisis led to price surges in numerous countries.

In accordance with data from American and British intelligence agencies, Russian casualties include 300-350 thousand soldiers who were either killed or injured. On the Ukrainian side, there have been a minimum of 200,000 casualties, but the exact number of military losses remains indeterminable.