Ukraine has another money-making idea - instead of begging for urgently needed funds from Western partners, it plans to start exporting weapons, instead of only buying them. But there is a big and unexpected catch to the whole scheme. Flush with external funding connected to the war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced ambitious plans to open ten arms export hubs across the European continent by the end of 2026.

Given Ukraine is still an active warzone, and given the likelihood that Russian forces will continue targeting defense manufacturing sites, Ukraine is seeking to have European allies play host to Ukrainian arms production plants.

For example, Ukrainian-made drones are expected to be in production on German soil later this month. Zelensky laid out new details of Ukraine's move into foreign arms markets, describing it as a long-term economic necessity, in a speech before the Kyiv Aviation Institute on Sunday night.

Ukraine's defense sector rapidly grown as a result of the war, accounting for roughly 7% of GDP, according to July 2025 estimates from the Kyiv School of Economics Institute. 

"Today we are opening up exports. In Europe in 2026 there will be 10 export centers. These are the Baltic countries and the countries of Northern Europe. In 2026, 10 representative offices will operate," Zelensky said, as quoted in Reuters.

"This is a [production] line that is already working. The production lines are already operating in the UK. These are Ukrainian technologies," Zelensky added - though without providing much more in the way of specifics.

In essence, Ukraine is seeking to sustain its war effort while locking in a long-term economic leverage by expanding its defense production sector, but in a protected and safe way far from the front lines.

Simultaneously, Moscow has complained that Ukraine is already deep in the black market export of arms siphoned off from Western deliveries, which Russian media alleging as follows:

Russian officials have long accused Kiev of fueling global arms proliferation through the black market and have specifically alleged that Ukraine has supplied weapons, including those it received from the West, to militant groups in Africa.

Last week, Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia reiterated the accusations and told the Security Council that “the Kiev regime is actively involved in... supplying terrorists with weapons, including drones, and training fighters,” citing the Sahel region as an example.

Mali’s Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga has accused Kiev of supplying kamikaze drones to terrorists.

Some serious question remain, however...

Of course, Russian weapons also often make their way to African battlefields. But Moscow's allegations specify that modern, Western-supplied stockpiles are being used far outside the actual Ukrainian battlefield, and that the illicit trade has enriched powerful Ukrainian officials, while increasing crime and terrorism.