Illustrative image. (Leonardo)
Italian defense giant Leonardo has set up a subsidiary in Ukraine focused primarily on research and development, expanding its cooperation with the country.
The Kyiv-based company, Leonardo Ukraine, has been listed in Ukraine’s business register since May 20, though it was first disclosed publicly in Leonardo’s half-year financial report, released at the end of July.
The company has share capital of 5.13 million Ukrainian hryvnias — about €100,000 — and is wholly owned through Leonardo International.
The new company, first reported by Italian media on August 19, marks the latest step in Leonardo’s broader push into Ukraine.
“We have now completed the legal process to be operational. The new company will be used to operate in the area,” a Leonardo communications official told Euractiv.
Leonardo Ukraine will focus on research and development in communications and navigation systems, software, IT services, and electronic and optical technologies.
Leonardo’s ex-CEO, Roberto Cingolani, announced last March that the company also planned to test its Michelangelo Dome in Ukraine. The system is an AI-powered digital architecture that links land, sea, air and space sensors into a single network to coordinate responses to drones, missiles and hypersonic threats.
A month later, the Italian government declined to renew Cingolani as Leonardo’s CEO, reportedly amid disagreements over management of the Michelangelo Dome project.
Illustrative image. (Leonardo)
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government has sharply escalated Italy’s financial and military support for Ukraine, pushing total defense assistance past €3 billion through successive interministerial relief packages.
That support, which has included advanced hardware such as SAMP/T air defense systems, has continued even as Meloni has faced persistent friction within her own coalition.
Junior coalition partners — most notably Matteo Salvini’s League party — have repeatedly questioned the continued arms shipments and voiced reluctance over deeper military involvement, reflecting a broader current of public pacifism and political skepticism in Italy.
Despite that internal dissent and pressure from fringe factions to shift course, Meloni has kept her government firmly anchored to NATO and EU commitments, repeatedly pushing through waves of military and logistical aid to Ukraine.
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