The Ukrainian president’s visit aims to rally support for the war-torn country while doubling as a campaign effort to convince Washington for permission to use long-range weapons to strike Russian armed forces.
ADVERTISEMENTUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Pennsylvania ammunition factory on Sunday and thanked the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
Matt Cartwright, a Democrat among those who met with Zelenskyy at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, said the president had a simple message: “Thank you. And we need more.”
The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year. Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of them from the US.
Zelenskyy said he expressed his gratitude to all the employees at the plant.
“It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail,” he wrote on X. “Thanks to people like these — in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries — who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.”
Zelenskyy’s visit kicked off a busy week in the US.
He will speak at the UN General Assembly annual gathering in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday before travelling to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. It comes as as he seeks to shore up support for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy tours heavily guarded ammunition plant
The area around the ammunition plant had been sealed off since Sunday morning, with municipal garbage trucks positioned across several roadblocks and a very heavy presence of city, regional and state police, including troopers on horseback.
As Zelenskyy’s large motorcade made its way to the ammunition plant in the afternoon, a small contingent of supporters waving Ukrainian flags assembled nearby to show their appreciation for his visit.
“It’s unfortunate that we need a plant like this, but it’s here, and it’s here to protect the world,” said Vera Kowal Krewson, a first-generation Ukrainian American who was among those who greeted Zelenskyy’s motorcade. “And I strongly feel that way.”
She said many of her friends’ parents have worked in the ammunition plant, and she called Zelenskyy’s visit “a wonderful thing.”
Laryssa Salak, 60, whose parents also immigrated from Ukraine, said she was pleased Zelenskyy came to thank the workers. However, she said it upsets her that funding for Ukraine’s defence has divided Americans and that even some of her friends oppose the support, saying the money should be spent domestically instead.
“But they don’t understand that that money does not directly go to Ukraine,” Salak said. ”It goes to American factories that manufacture, like here, like the ammunition. So that money goes to American workers as well. And a lot of people don’t understand that.”
Shells used to power howitzers
The 155 mm shells made in the Scranton plant are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns with long barrels that can fire at various angles.
Howitzers can strike targets up to 30 kilometres away and are highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance.
ADVERTISEMENTWith the war now well into its third year, Zelenskyy has been pushing the US to permit using longer range missile systems to fire deeper inside of Russia.
So far, he has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions.
The Defence Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a US-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the US and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range capabilities.
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