Arms Trends in Ukraine: 10 November

In October, Russia launched 101 ballistic missiles at Ukraine, but only 16 were intercepted.

The supply of Patriot air-defence systems and missiles remains a top priority under the PURL initiative, which Ukraine’s allies use to finance the purchase of American equipment. Notably, 75% of Patriot interceptor missiles reach Ukraine through PURL.

While Ukraine tries to persuade more partners to join the initiative, the U.S. government shutdown has possibly affected deliveries to Ukraine, with some citing it as a factor contributing to recent delays.

In this edition:

• PURL Initiative: Latest Updates;

• CEO of Swarmer on $15M Investments and Drone Autonomy: summary of the interview;

• Can Atreyd’s Drone Wall Protect Ukraine?

• Ukraine and France Are About to Sign a “Historic Deal”;

• and 20+ additional developments in Ukraine and Russia.

Thank you for reading and supporting my work!

Military Transfers to Ukraine

Eight Nordic and Baltic countries have announced that they will collectively finance a $500 million (€430 million) package of military equipment and munitions for Ukraine.

The equipment — funded by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden — will be procured in the United States under NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative.

The PURL initiative was launched in July by NATO Secretary General Rutte and US President Trump and came following criticism from the White House that Europe needed to shoulder more of the responsibility for Ukraine’s security.

PURL supports three key objectives: holding the front line, protecting cities, and safeguarding critical infrastructure. About 75% of Patriot interceptor missiles and roughly 90% of interceptors for all other air-defense systems reach Ukraine exclusively through the PURL mechanism, said Alyona Hetmanchuk, Head of Ukraine’s Mission to NATO.

The PURL mechanism functions in several steps:

• First, Kyiv submits a list of U.S.-made weapons it urgently needs. Since the first billion dollars have already been allocated, it is clear that most of the requests relate to air defence — particularly Patriot interceptor missiles.

• These Ukrainian requests are then reviewed and authorized by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

• After SACEUR’s approval, the package is forwarded to the United States for final confirmation.

• Once endorsed, European nations finance the contracts with defence suppliers. Countries outside NATO or the EU that support Ukraine may also contribute.

• When all approvals are in place and funding is secured, the weapons and ammunition are delivered to Ukraine as quickly as possible.

To date, 17 NATO member states have pledged or already contributed funds to the PURL initiative, including Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden.

As of November, partner contributions under the PURL program have reached nearly $3 billion. These funds have already enabled the formation of five packages of U.S. weapons.

Last week, it was announced that Germany plans to make an additional contribution to the PURL initiative that will amount to at least €150 million.

The shutdown of the U.S. government has not halted American weapons deliveries to Ukraine under the PURL program. This was reported by the Ukrainian outlet Suspilne, citing its own sources within NATO. “Equipment from the first packages has already been delivered, and new shipments are ongoing. There have been no interruptions in the implementation of the PURL program — deliveries continue, and new equipment is arriving in Ukraine,” the source told the outlet.

However, German Defence Minister Pistorius stated that Berlin would have been able to transfer additional Patriot air-defense systems to Ukraine more quickly if not for the U.S. government shutdown, which delayed the process.

Additional developments:

• 🇳🇱 Six active-duty units of the Defence Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (HUR) received a €350,000 assistance package from an anonymous donor in the Netherlands. The package included:

  • more than 700 pump-action shotguns — Hatsan MKA1919 and MAVKA MKA1919;

  • 130 Holosun collimator sights (Enclosed HS512C-RD and Paralow HS403B), which operate independently of external lighting and weather conditions;

  • 20,000 rounds of ammunition.

• 🇳🇱 The Dutch foundation Protect Ukraine has donated a Yak-52 aircraft to the Ukrainian army to help counter Russian drones. The Yak-52 is used to intercept slower drones, such as the Shahed models.

  Pilots attempt to knock the drones down with the aircraft’s wings or fire at them directly from the cockpit.

• 🇩🇪 Germany will increase its military assistance to Ukraine by €3 billion in 2026, bringing the total to a record €11.5 billion.

• 🇸🇰 Slovakia’s transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine was not a criminal offense, the Bratislava prosecutor’s office said, according to Politico.

  Slovakia donated its entire fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters and two anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine in the spring of 2023, making it the first country to send warplanes to Kyiv after the start of the full-scale invasion.

• Ukrainian F-16 fighters operating from one of the airfields fired 45 missiles in a single night. Technicians who service and arm the F-16s shared this information, emphasizing the critical importance of support from Ukraine’s partners.

• Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha has urged partners to shift from the approach of supporting Ukraine “for as long as it takes” to supporting it “as strongly as possible” — including by financing drone production in Ukraine.

  Share

CEO of Swarmer on $15M Investments and Drone Autonomy: summary of the interview

Ukrainian startup Swarmer raised $15 million in investment — one of the largest publicly announced defence-tech rounds since the start of the full-scale invasion.