None of Ukrainian manufacturers has yet begun exporting arms abroad, Zelenskyy adviser says
Drone Industry
Despite statements that a mechanism for exporting Ukrainian weapons had been launched in the autumn of last year, not a single Ukrainian manufacturer is currently selling arms abroad.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, the president’s adviser on strategic issues, said this in an interview with the Ukrainian edition of Forbes.
According to him, to begin exports, a company must obtain a relevant contract from foreign governments, but none has yet received such a contract.
Kamyshin explained that the process of foreign governments procuring Ukrainian weapons is far more complicated than it may seem. In particular, they need to change military doctrines, conduct trials, and approve new procurement procedures.
"A hypothetical country like Poland would have to decide: ‘We are no longer buying mortars, we are buying FPV drones.’ That completely breaks the old system," Kamyshin said.
He suggested that such processes could take at least a year, so estimates of potential exports at the level of $2-3 billion as early as this year are overstated.
At the same time, the president’s adviser acknowledged that in 2026, Ukraine is capable of producing $50 billion worth of weapons, but actual orders do not exceed $15 billion.
"Our capabilities significantly exceed procurement capacity. We have even stopped counting them," he said.
As reported, in November last year, the National Security and Defense Council said that Ukraine was restoring a full-fledged mechanism for exporting its own weapons. Manufacturers with excess capacity were allowed to sell their products to foreign partners, subject to full state control.
In February 2026, NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov stated that Ukraine had begun resuming controlled arms exports: the inter-agency commission on military-technical cooperation and export control held a meeting after an eight-month hiatus and issued the first permits to defence industry enterprises.
The NSDC predicted that Ukraine could reach military export volumes worth several billion dollars this year.
More on arms exports
- As a reminder, after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine banned exports of military goods in an effort to ensure the army had everything it needed. However, in 2024, Ukraine raised the possibility of lifting that ban.
- In the summer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian weapons could be exported in a controlled manner in the format of production lines abroad.
- In November, the head of state announced that Ukraine would open two representative offices for arms exports — in Berlin and Copenhagen — and was preparing an agreement on drone sales to the United States called Drone-deal.
