Ukraine signs agreements with UAE to facilitate modernization of its army

"During the exhibition, the Chief of Staff signed, in the presence of the head of state, a document on military and technical cooperation between Ukraine and the UAE. The new agreement expands bilateral cooperation significantly. The terms for delivering the necessary means of defense to the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been agreed," Seleznev said.

He also said that "Ukrainian enterprises signed contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, which will enable the Ukrainian army to receive the necessary resources to enhance its combat effectiveness and accelerate its modernization."

Seleznev said Ukraine would bring in the world's best manufacturers to ensure the implementation of the country’s defense strategy.

Ukraine’s military has crumbled due to two decades of neglect, corruption and lack of reform. At the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, when the country first came under attack by Russia in Crimea in March last year, defense officials said the country had less than 6,000 combat-ready soldiers.

The country’s army has swelled to ten times that size in recent months, but soldiers still lack modern equipment and even basic equipment, such as night-vision goggles and flak jackets, much of which has been supplied by civic activists who raise money on behalf of the servicemen.

Ukraine’s volunteer battalions, which now form a significant part of the armed forces, also complain that they are left out of the official army supply chain, leaving them scrambling for supplies. Nevertheless, one of these battalions, Azov, is the only Ukrainian military formation to take ground from the Russian-backed militants since last August, when it took a slice of land east of Mariupol in mid-February.

But even if the Ukrainian military does get supplies of modern weapons, experts warn that it could still take some time to train Ukrainian forces in their proper use and deployment.

There is also the question of where the money for expensive new military kit will come from: Ukraine is in the midst of a deep economic crisis, with its hryvnia currency losing about 70% of its value in the last year. The country’s currency reserves have also been severely depleted – Ukraine had to pay back $14 billion on foreign loans last year, and received only $9 billion in fresh loans over the period, Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said in January.

In the meantime, fresh military advances by the militants could make the entire question of Ukrainian national defense a moot point: Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is home to the country’s defense industry and has been threatened to be a future target by the Russian backed militants.

The city is also only 30 minutes away by car from the Russian border, and so is vulnerable to attack from Russia itself. Russian troops and equipment have been seen gathering in the Russian city of Belgorod in recent days.

If Kharkiv were to fall, Ukraine would lose its capacity to produce and repair the heavy weapons it needs for defense. What remained of Ukraine would be in no position to make its own weapons, far less buy them from another country.