Ukraine’s defense minister said the country still needed more firepower to push back Russian troops and offered to use the battlefield as a testing ground for weapons manufacturers.
“Ukraine is now essentially a testing ground,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a conversation Tuesday with the D.C.-based think tank Atlantic Council when asked what the country has learned from Western-delivered weapons.
“Many weapons are now being tested in the field, in real combat conditions against the Russian military, which has many modern systems of its own,” he added, citing electronic warfare, air defense systems, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Reznikov said Ukraine was sharing information with all its Western partners and added that the military was “interested in testing modern systems” in the ongoing five-month war against Russia. He said Ukraine is now “inviting weapons manufacturers to test their new products” on the battlefield.
“I think for our partners in Poland, the United States, France or Germany, it’s a good opportunity to test the equipment,” he said. “Or, our Turkish partners.”
“Give us the tools — we’ll get the job done,” he said.
Since Russian troops invaded on February 24, Western countries have slowly but surely handed over various weapons requested by Ukraine. The extensive list includes drones, howitzer artillery systems, helicopters, small arms, personnel carriers, ammunition and anti-tank missiles.
Military experts and world leaders have said Ukraine’s success depends on Western support — including economic sanctions and continued arms deliveries.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials praised the recent arrival of long-range weapon systems, such as the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS), as an effective counter to Russian troop movements in the eastern Donbass region, the central theater of campaign.
“This has significantly slowed the Russian advance and dramatically reduced the frequency of artillery bombardment,” Reznikov said. “That’s how it works.”
