More than half of Ukrainians ready to take up arms to defend Ukraine – Ukroboronprom CEO

Over 50% of Ukrainian citizens are ready to defend the independence and sovereignty of their country either in the ranks of the Armed Forces or as volunteers.

That’s according to Yuriy Husiev, Director General of the state-owned Ukroboronprom defense giant, who spoke at the International Defense Investment Forum, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"A large part of our citizens are ready to defend the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine. According to expert estimates and polls, as of April 2021, more than 50% of Ukrainians have stated they are ready to stand up for our country,” he said.

Some Ukrainians agreed to take up arms to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity as part of the Ukrainian Army and some opted for becoming volunteers, helping the military.

According to Hisiev, today there are also more than 300,000 citizens in the country who have resigned from service with the Armed Forces, having gained combat experience in Donbas hostilities or participated in joint international exercises and peacekeeping missions.

"Against the background of global developments events and military aggression by the Russian Federation, which has been ongoing for eight years, Ukraine has a strong position to rely on when we talk about the future of the defense industry," added the Ukroboronprom CEO.

As Ukrinform reported, in 2020, the poll by the Rating sociological group said almost 60% of Ukrainians were ready, in case of an impending threat, to take up arms to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

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