Ukraine begins producing spare parts for Western military equipment, Defense Minister says

Ukraine has begun to produce some parts for equipment provided by partner countries itself, with some spare parts even "better than the original," Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on the air of the national telethon.

According to him, one of the key topics during negotiations with partners, in particular in the Ramstein format, is the maintenance of military equipment and provision of spare parts.

Currently, Ukraine has established three lines of maintenance and repair of equipment. Current repairs are carried out directly on the battlefield as Ukrainian crews are trained and know how to do it.

"Our task is to provide them with spare parts. We even manufacture some spare parts on the Ukrainian market for Western equipment, our enterprises, and not only state ones, but also private ones, have fantastically learned how to do some things," the minister noted.

According to Reznikov, he personally held in his hands one of these parts for the American M109 self-propelled howitzer, which was manufactured by Ukrainian specialists. The Minister of Defense assured that it was even "better than the original".

The second line of repair is more difficult, but it can be done at Ukrainian enterprises not far from the front line, in those cities where there are industrial opportunities. Spare parts and drawings are needed. Negotiations regarding permits, licenses, etc. are also ongoing.

"The third line is a complex repair, for example of electronics, which we are forced to send abroad. For this, several hubs have been built in partner countries," explained Reznikov.

For example, a memorandum has already been signed for the repair of Leopard 2 tanks in Poland with the assistance of Germany. Most likely, Leopard 1 will also be repaired there, the minister suggested.

The readiness of Poland to create a hub for maintenance of Leopard tanks sent to Ukraine was announced at the beginning of March.

The Ukrainian military believes that the German Leopard and British Challenger tanks are "not even Mercedes, but Rolls-Royce," Reznikov noted.