‘Ukraine is unable to produce gunpowder’, – former deputy minister Tuka says

The Ukrainian defense industry lacks the capability to produce gunpowder for artillery shells.

Former Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, Georgiy Tuka, made this statement.

“Seemingly, such a primitive thing like gunpowder turned out to be absolutely overly complex for the Ukrainian military-industrial complex,” the former official said in bewilderment.

Tuka explained that this substance serves as the basic component for cartridges used in small arms and projectiles for artillery. The situation in Ukraine regarding artillery gunpowder is particularly dire, added the former deputy minister.

According to Tuka, full-scale production of artillery shells in the territories under Kiev’s control is currently impossible. Statements regarding the emergence of such production likely refer not to the shells themselves, but to casings, primers, or warheads for them.

Earlier, an anonymous senior officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces told the British publication Independent that Russian strikes had “paralyzed” Ukraine’s defense industry and prevented it from producing anything independently.