(KYIV, UKRAINE) – Ukraine is developing its own anti-ballistic missile system codenamed Freyja, led by private defence company Fire Point, while simultaneously seeking international support to protect production facilities from Russian strikes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised during a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade that safeguarding Freyja’s manufacturing sites ranks among Ukraine’s most critical priorities. The project involves partnerships with Italy, Germany, Denmark and other nations, with Ukrainian firm Fire Point assuming leadership responsibilities.
“We would already be making Patriots for everyone, believe me. And Europe, which wants and would like to have Patriots, anti-ballistic systems, and missiles, would already have everything. But now we are dealing with paperwork, while what is flying at us is not a piece of paper, not a paper missile, but a real missile that kills people,” Zelenskyy stated.
Ukraine initially requested licences from the United States during the first year of the full-scale invasion to produce Patriot systems and PAC-3 missiles domestically. While an agreement now exists with the Trump administration regarding these licences, Zelenskyy argued that a decision four years ago would have fundamentally transformed both Ukrainian and European production capabilities.
The human cost of insufficient ballistic defences remains stark. Zelenskyy reported that 13 people died and 77 sustained injuries from Russian strikes across 12 regions during the previous 24 hours. A journalist asked about a child born in 2022 who perished in a Russian attack, having never experienced peacetime. Nearly all power plants have sustained damage, alongside numerous railway stations, hospitals, universities and civilian enterprises.
Zelenskyy called on international partners to intensify sanctions against Russia’s missile complex, noting that hundreds and thousands of components continue arriving from various countries, including some that are Ukrainian partners. “These elements arrive and then strike our people, killing children, civilians, and soldiers, of course. Therefore, imposing sanctions on Russian weapons and on the supply of these elements is, first and foremost,” he said.
Fire Point chief designer Denys Shtilerman confirmed the full-scale launch of the Freyja program is scheduled for mid-2027. The company has completed only the initial cluster of integration work, with a technologically complex stage of combining all components remaining, followed by full testing to confirm interception capabilities.
The company recently faced disinformation campaigns, with some Ukrainian media outlets falsely claiming Fire Point had promised to “close Ukraine’s skies to ballistic missiles by the end of the month”. Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh emphasised the company made no such statements, warning that such manipulation creates false expectations in a society living under daily ballistic threats.
Zelenskyy also addressed international reluctance to see Ukraine develop ballistic capabilities. “There are not very many people and companies in the world that want such a competitor. Do you understand what ballistics in Ukraine means? Do you understand what having your own ballistic missile or your own anti-ballistic missile means? On the European continent, there is still no indigenous air defence system that can shoot down ballistic missiles,” he said during the United News marathon.
The Institute for the Study of War reported that Russia may launch a large-scale strike campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the coming weeks, potentially using strategic ballistic missile reserves to inflict maximum damage by August 24. Analysts noted Russia has recently used limited interceptor missile stocks in attacks, launching relatively few quasi-ballistic and ballistic missiles while still causing significant destruction.
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