SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
President Trump is now sounding more supportive of Ukraine, but he's still not providing additional military aid to the country in its war with Russia, and as a result, Ukrainians are racing to make as many of their own weapons as they can. NPR's Greg Myre reports from Lviv.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: The emerging arms industry here is on display at an odd place, an underground parking garage beneath a gleaming new office building known as LvivTech.City. Conference organizers chose this secure space so the event couldn't be disrupted by one of Russia's frequent airstrikes.
MAKSYM YAKOVLEV: We're a Ukrainian company. We're building drones, all different kind of drones.
MYRE: Maksym Yakovlev is with the armsmaker Freedom Group. Many Ukrainian drones are used only once - flying into a Russian target and exploding. This one on display is a high-end model. It has six propellers, carries 30 pounds of weaponry and can be reused.
YAKOVLEV: So it's heavy drone which flies in, carries grenades and explosives and throws this into the target and comes back.
MYRE: When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine's arsenal consisted largely of aging hardware, dating back decades when Russia and Ukraine were both part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine burned through those stockpiles at a furious pace and then became dependent on U.S. and European weapons. Now, Ukraine makes many of its own. Yaroslav Azhnyuk runs two tech startups.
YAROSLAV AZHNYUK: Well, I lived in Silicon Valley for six years. I went through a very classic startup journey.
MYRE: In California, he launched Petcube, a company that makes cameras to keep watch on pets. He brought that expertise back to Ukraine and now makes cameras for drones. He says Ukraine is rapidly emerging as a Silicon Valley for the defense industry.
AZHNYUK: Ukraine today is the defense valley of the world. This has already happened. You sit in a cafe in Kyiv and you meet one defense founder, and then 30 minutes later another defense tech founder passes by. The energy here is just incredible.
MYRE: Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country makes at least 40% of its own weapons, including virtually all of its own drones. The country had no real drone industry three years ago. It's expected to make 4 million of them this year. The latest models travel hundreds of miles, striking Russian oil refineries and causing significant damage to that country's most important industry. Oleksandr Merezhko is a member of Ukraine's parliament and heads the Foreign Affairs Committee.
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO: We are outnumbered. Russia has more human resources. That's why we need more sophisticated weaponry to make up for this difference, to fill this gap.
MYRE: Ukraine still relies on the U.S. for its most powerful weapons, such as the Patriot air defense system and F-16 fighter jets. President Trump has halted U.S. military aid to Ukraine, but he says the U.S. will sell American weapons to NATO countries which can then give them to Ukraine. This is happening, though on a limited scale so far, so Ukraine is starting to make its own heavy weaponry.
The current buzz centers on the Flamingo, a cruise missile that can travel 1,800 miles. Some skeptics think the Flamingo may be overhyped, but if it performs as advertised, Ukraine will have the ability to strike deep inside Russia with a large weapon. Again, Oleksandr Merezhko.
MEREZHKO: In terms of military technologies, we are not a burden for NATO, for Europe and for the United States. We're a very good partner, very promising partner.
MYRE: For now, Ukraine's armsmakers are relatively small and in need of foreign investment. Yet Yaroslav Azhnyuk sees potential.
AZHNYUK: There is a big, big financial opportunity for the investors to come here. You know, Ukraine is this Wild East. It's the eastern frontier of the Western civilization.
MYRE: Outside help is welcome, but he knows much of the work in the near term is up to Ukrainians like himself. Greg Myre, NPR News, Lviv, Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
