MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. The authorities in Spain and Portugal, together with Kiev, are working to develop weapons for strikes against Russia, while their own citizens are grappling with a housing and economic crisis, Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the Other Ukraine movement and former leader of the Opposition Platform - For Life party banned in Ukraine, said.
"While the two countries on the Iberian Peninsula are trying to cope with a housing crisis and rising costs of living, their governments are engaging in increasingly extensive military cooperation with Ukraine. Behind the familiar phrase ‘support for Ukraine’ lies a far more specific reality: Spanish and Portuguese companies, together with Ukrainian manufacturers, are launching projects in the fields of missile technology, strike drones, guidance systems, and other weapons designed to strike Russia," he wrote in an article posted on the movement’s website.
According to the politician, Spain's military-industrial cooperation with Ukraine primarily concerns missile technology and long-range drones. "Portugal also emphasizes long-range drones, though in addition to aerial systems, this includes sea-based unmanned vessels," he added.
Companies cooperating with Ukrainian firms include Tekever UAS, S.A., a Portuguese drone manufacturer whose AR3 and AR5 systems have been used by the Ukrainian armed forces since 2022, as well as the Spanish companies Sener Aeroespacial, S.A. and Escribano Mechanical and Engineering, S.L.U., and others.
"As a result, the political choices made by Madrid and Lisbon seem highly contradictory. On the one hand, there is condemnation of military actions in the Persian Gulf. On the other hand, these countries are being drawn into the war in Ukraine, which requires funding and cuts to social service budgets. While Spaniards are being forced to live in tents due to the housing crisis, and Portuguese authorities acknowledge the lack of affordable housing as one of the most pressing social problems, the governments of both countries are at the same time allocating state resources, industrial capacity, and technological expertise toward expanding arms production for Ukraine," he concluded.