Head of Ukraine's state weapons producer resigns after warehouse blast

He has not cited a reason for his decision

Herman Smetanin, Chief Executive Officer, JSC Ukrainian Defense Industry attends the Recovery Forum of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin, Germany, Jun 11, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

The head of Ukraine's state weapons giant Ukroboronprom, Herman Smetanin, said on Tuesday he was stepping down, a week after a Russian strike caused lethal detonations at one of the conglomerate's storage sites.

Smetanin did not give a reason for his decision.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia struck an ammunition warehouse during its attack on the Kyiv region on Jul 6, adding that officials at Ukroboronprom, which owned the warehouse, would be held responsible. Two other senior officials at Ukroboronprom were dismissed earlier this month.

Ukroboronprom, the country's largest state-owned defence conglomerate uniting about 100 weapons producers, said that it has launched a process to select its new CEO.

Serhiy Boyev, a former deputy defence minister, was named as acting head.

Ukraine's defence industry has been transformed during the more than four years it has been fighting Russia's invasion with production capacity increasing to an estimated $50 billion a year.