Lithuania to allocate $11 million to buy Palianytsia missile-drones for Ukraine
Lithuania will allocate 10 million euros ($11 million) to buy new Ukrainian-made Palianytsia missile-drones for Kyiv, former Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin said on Sept. 6 after the meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Germany.
Ukraine developed Palianytsia in order to respond to Russian attacks with its own domestically produced long-range weapons. The first successful use of Palianytsia was confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelensky in late August.
Ukraine’s Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told the Associated Press (AP) on Aug. 27 that the production of one missile-drone costs less than $1 million.
The announcement follows aid pledges made by the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Germany and Ukraine's other allies during the Ramstein summit, which Zelensky attended in person.
"We presented the production capabilities of our defense industry and asked our partners to buy more weapons from our Ukrainian manufacturers," Kamyshin said.
Denmark became the first country to offer to donate arms to Ukraine via direct purchases from the Ukrainian defense industry, as Kyiv's defense budget does not match the capacities of domestic weapons production.
In June, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that the first donation of 18 Ukrainian-made Bohdana artillery pieces financed by Copenhagen will be delivered within the coming months.
Daria Svitlyk
