Executive Director of the Technological Forces of Ukraine association, Kateryna Mykhalko, shared how private military-tech manufacturers in Ukraine reacted to the termination of military assistance from the United States.
Executive Director of the Technological Forces of Ukraine association, Kateryna Mykhalko, shared how private military-tech manufacturers in Ukraine reacted to the termination of military assistance from the United States.
«This is not the end,» Kateryna Mykhalko said in a video interview for Radio NV, emphasizing that, of course, Ukraine would have been much easier with paid assistance from the United States. The head of the Technological Forces of Ukraine emphasized that the private sector in Ukraine has always relied on itself, and the association, according to her, strives for self-sufficiency in terms of resources for both the state and manufacturers. «International partnerships are one of the ways,» Kateryna Mykhalko added.
In a situation where Ukraine is left without US military assistance, the head of the Technological Forces of Ukraine proposes to work more proactively on joint production with European partners.
In addition, Kateryna Mykhalko added that there are several development options in the current conditions, when there is currently no ban from the American government that private companies cannot work directly, in particular:
According to the head of the Technological Forces of Ukraine, one of the cooperation models could be the export of Ukrainian drones to the US, when the United States, for example, could sell or provide weapons in return. However, as of today, as long as the export of drones from Ukraine to the US remains closed, this scheme cannot work.
After the meeting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Donald Trump, which took place on February 28, 2025 at the White House, the United States stopped military aid. In addition, the United States has limited the exchange of intelligence with Kiev, as stated by CIA Director John Ratcliffe. It is believed that the intelligence provided by America is key to Ukraine’s ability to strike deep into Russia, using missiles such as Storm Shadow and Atacms, as well as to detect Russian forces behind enemy lines. However, on March 9, Donald Trump said that the United States is close to lifting the «pause» in the exchange of intelligence with Ukraine.
Amid restrictions on military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, announced recently in the United States, Europe has proposed a plan to protect the skies over Ukraine called «Sky Shield,» developed by military experts, which could stop Russian missile attacks and would operate separately from NATO.
It was previously reported that in order to put pressure on Ukraine, the US may resort to disabling Starlink in Ukraine. Although billionaire Elon Musk denied a Reuters report that Ukraine may disable access to the Starlink satellite internet used by the Armed Forces, the Ukrainian military has begun to consider alternatives to the American service .
Europe is also considering various options in the event of a Starlink outage. One of them is the Govsatcom satellite network, the other is the Eutelsat and OneWeb constellation.
In addition, it was reported that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to The New York Times, had ordered a halt to offensive cyber operations against Russia. This report was denied by a Pentagon spokesman.
Ukrainian white hat hacker Mykyta Knysh questions the existence of offensive US cyber operations against Russia. «There have never been any, neither covert nor overt,» Knysh stressed in a comment to dev.ua. According to him, the cyber command was created for slightly different purposes.
At the same time, cybersecurity expert Vyacheslav Davydenko said that the US provided assistance to Ukraine through joint cyber operations.
