SCRANTON, Pa. — Amid tight security, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Pennsylvania munitions plant on Sunday to thank workers who produce one of the most vital munitions in his country’s fight against Russian ground forces.
Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright, who was 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 in the country that makes 155mm artillery shells and has been increasing its production over the past year. Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of them from the United States.
Zelensky said he expressed his gratitude to all the plant’s employees.
“It is in places like this that you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail,” he wrote on X. “Because of people like these – in Ukraine, in America and in all partner countries – who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.”
Zelensky’s visit kicks off a busy week in the United States. He will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday, then travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, aimed at bolstering support for Ukraine.
The area around the munitions plant had been cordoned off since Sunday morning, with municipal garbage trucks positioned at several roadblocks and a heavy presence of municipal, regional and state police, including mounted police.
As Zelensky’s large motorcade headed toward the munitions plant in the afternoon, a small contingent of supporters waving Ukrainian flags gathered nearby to show their appreciation for his visit.
“It’s unfortunate that we need a plant like this, but it’s there, and it’s there to protect the world,” said Vera Kowal Krewson, a first-generation Ukrainian-American who was among those who greeted Zelensky’s motorcade. “And that’s how I feel deeply.”
She said the parents of many of her husband’s friends had worked at the munitions factory and she called Zelensky’s visit “a wonderful thing.”
Laryssa Salak, 60, whose parents also immigrated from Ukraine, said she was pleased that Zelensky came to thank the workers. She said she was upset that funding Ukrainian defense has divided Americans and that even some of her friends oppose the support, saying the money should instead go to helping Americans.
“But they don’t understand that this money doesn’t go directly to Ukraine,” Salak said. “It goes to American factories that make, like here, munitions. So this money also goes to American workers. And many people don’t understand that.”
The 155mm shells manufactured at the Scranton plant are used in howitzer systems, which are large towed guns with long barrels that can fire at different angles. Howitzers can strike targets up to 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 kilometers) away and are popular with ground forces for eliminating enemy targets from a protected range.
With the war now in its third year, Zelensky is lobbying the United States for permission to use longer-range missile systems to fire deeper into Russia.
So far, he has not convinced the Pentagon or the White House to ease those restrictions. The Defense Department has stressed that Ukraine could already strike Moscow with Ukrainian-made drones, and there is hesitation about the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile hitting the Russian capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons.
At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 155mm shells per day. This rate began to deplete U.S. stockpiles and raised concerns that the available level would not be sufficient to meet U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as a possible conflict over Taiwan.
In response, the United States invested in restarting production lines and is now manufacturing more than 40,000 155mm cartridges per month, with a goal of reaching 100,000 cartridges per month.
Two of the Pentagon leaders who pushed the production increase — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer — were scheduled to join Zelenskyy at the plant. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, also joined the Ukrainian president.
The 155mm rounds are just one example of the munitions, missiles, air defense systems, and advanced weapons the United States has provided to Ukraine, ranging from small arms ammunition to state-of-the-art F-16 fighter jets. The United States has been Ukraine’s largest donor, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion raised by NATO and partner countries to help defend itself.
Although Ukraine is not a NATO member, commitment to its defense is seen by many European countries as necessary to prevent Putin from engaging in further military aggression that could threaten neighboring NATO members and escalate into a much wider conflict.
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Copp reported from Washington.
