Ukraine can produce four million drones annually and is quickly ramping up its production of other weapons, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in comments authorised for publication on Wednesday.

Ukraine plans to produce 1.5 million drones by the end of 2024. The government has also launched a pilot project to certify drone operator schools, says Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal at a Cabinet of Ministers meeting.

"In the first half of this year alone, Ukraine produced 25 times more artillery and mortar ammunition than in the entire year of 2022," Zelensky said at the second international defense industry forum in Kyiv.