Ukraine’s defense industry has grown tenfold since 2022. Now, it’s $50 billion machine

Jun 3, 2026 - 14:10

On 3 June 2026, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte laid flowers at the Wall of Remembrance near St. Michael’s Cathedral and paid tribute to the fallen Ukrainian defenders. Source: The Presidential Office

Ukraine is spending $45-50 billion a year on Ukrainian-made weapons. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed the "unprecedented" figure at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Kyiv on 3 June, Ukrinform reports.

The figure tops a defense industry that has grown roughly tenfold since Russia's February 2022 full-scale war, Zelenskyy told an international defense forum in October 2025. It represents Ukraine's pivot from import-dependent supply toward domestic manufacturing with drones, missiles, artillery, ground robots, and air-defense components.

It also lands ahead of the NATO Ankara summit on 7-8 July, where Kyiv will discuss long-term financial security guarantees.

Real working security guarantee

"We managed to reach what is, in my view, a very high level. We have funding for the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.

He framed the achievement as a "real working security guarantee for Ukraine, for our people, for our independence," but stressed that Ukraine needs the level of financing sustained "not just for now, for these years, but more long-term."

Zelenskyy said he discussed the issue with Rutte specifically as part of building long-term financial security guarantees.

From 40% to 50%-plus Ukrainian-made

The $45-50 billion figure builds on a steady trajectory across 2025: in April, Zelenskyy noted more than 40% of weapons at the front were Ukrainian-made.

In October, he set a target of at least 50% by year-end, and in December, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed the 50% mark had been reached, with more than 75% of the 2025 weapons procurement budget going to Ukrainian manufacturers.

Ankara summit and security guarantees

Rutte invited Zelenskyy to the NATO summit in Ankara on 7-8 July. The Ukrainian president has confirmed attendance.

Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian team will work at the summit specifically on the financial-guarantee component.

The forum on long-term funding for Ukraine's war effort follows the EU's €90 billion macro-financial package approved on 23 April, the first tranche of which Ukraine has directed primarily toward domestic drone production and energy infrastructure protection.