Yevhen Khmara in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, on Aug. 18, 2026.
Opinion

Shells, stalled contracts, and no armor for wounded — Ukraine's new defense minister's problem list

by Bohdan Miroshnychenko

Weapons production in Ukraine has a mountain of problems: short contracts, scandals over ammunition and other complex equipment procurement, inefficient drone purchasing, leaky quality control and oversight of manufacturers' capabilities, export rules that don't work, funding shortages, and more. All of this ultimately adds up to poor supply for troops at the front. Neither the dismissed minister Mykhailo Fedorov nor any other "six-month defense minister" has come even close to solving these p

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US shuts down Russia's push for economic cooperation 'until war is over,' source says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov that economic cooperation between Washington and Moscow will remain impossible as long as Russia continues its war against Ukraine, people familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent. The two officials met on Aug. 31 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Asheville, marking the first time Russia's finance minister has attended the gathering in person since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine

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