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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded sharply to remarks by Germany\u2019s Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, who dismissed Ukraine\u2019s drone industry as \u201chousewives with 3-D printers in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cIf every housewife in Ukraine really can produce drones, then every housewife could be the CEO of Rheinmetall,\u201d Zelenskyy said, praising Ukraine\u2019s defence industry for reaching \u201cthis high standard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Papperger, in an interview with The Atlantic, described Ukraine\u2019s weapons production as unremarkable, likening it to \u201cplaying with Legos.\u201d <\/p>\n
His comments triggered widespread backlash in Kyiv.<\/p>\n
Rheinmetall later issued a statement expressing \u201cutmost respect\u201d for Ukraine\u2019s defence sector, highlighting the \u201cinnovative strength and fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people,\u201d though it did not apologise for the CEO\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy told journalists via WhatsApp that Ukraine competes \u201cnot with rhetoric, but with technology and results,\u201d pointing to successes on land, in the air and at sea. <\/p>\n
He added that Ukraine\u2019s defence industry \u201cwill take, and is already taking, its place in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander Kamyshin said Ukrainian drones have destroyed more than 11,000 Russian tanks. Officials and social media users responded with hashtags like #LegoDrones and #MadeByHousewives.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko called Papperger\u2019s remarks sexist, saying: \u201cEurope\u2019s defence is powered by Ukrainian \u2018housewives\u2019. Ukrainian women are an essential part of Ukraine\u2019s war effort and Europe\u2019s security. They have stepped into roles once seen as male-dominated, bringing energy, discipline and determination.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement was echoed by the head of Ukraine’s Mission to NATO Alyona Getmanchuk. <\/p>\n
Over 70,000 women serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with nearly 20,000 in combat roles. Many of them work as drone operators and developers.<\/p>\n
Kyiv officials say women-drones operators took part in last year\u2019s \u201cSpiderweb\u201d operation, in which more than 100 Ukrainian drones struck air bases deep inside Russia, targeting nuclear-capable long-range bombers.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s Rheinmetall, one of Europe\u2019s largest arms manufacturers, has become a major supplier to Ukraine, providing tanks, 155mm artillery, mortar shells and surveillance drones.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s chief executive officer, Armin Papperger, sparked controversy with comments dismissing Ukraine\u2019s drone industry as \u201chousewives with 3-D printers in the kitchen,\u201d coming as Volodymyr Zelenskyy was touring the Gulf and signing defence agreements.<\/p>\n
These deals include cooperation on missile and drone threats, with Ukrainian specialists deployed to several countries to assist with air defence and drone interception systems.<\/p>\n
Papperger\u2019s remarks have also sparked wider debate on defence innovation. Four years into Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion, drones are estimated to cause around 80% of combat casualties on both sides.<\/p>\n
Germany and Ukraine have launched a joint venture between Germany\u2019s Quantum Systems and Ukraine\u2019s Frontline Robotics. <\/p>\n
The facility, expected to produce up to 10,000 drones within a year, is the first Ukrainian drone production line in Germany and forms part of Kyiv\u2019s effort to expand arms manufacturing in Europe amid rising demand for unmanned systems.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian companies now produce around four million drones of various types each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded sharply to remarks by Germany\u2019s Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, who dismissed Ukraine\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[421,5,483,484],"class_list":{"0":"post-525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-drones","9":"tag-germany","10":"tag-russias-invasion-of-ukraine","11":"tag-war-in-ukraine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}