After the head of Rheinmetall invoked the “housewives” who make Ukrainian drones, Kiev caught fire. The German company is now pouring ashes on its head

German defense giant Rheinmetall tried to calm spirits on Sunday after the controversy sparked by statements by the company's boss, who compared Ukrainian drone factories to “housewives” who make weapons in their kitchens, reports AFP.

In an interview with The Atlantic published Friday, CEO Armin Papperger was asked about Ukraine's development of drone technologies, widely seen as playing a key role in Kiev's response to the Russian invasion.

“It's like playing with Lego,” Papperger said of the drones, before comparing Ukraine's main drone makers to “gentlemen.”

“They have 3D printers in the kitchen and they're making parts for drones,” he said, adding that “that's not innovation.”

Western media, including The Atlantic, have praised Ukraine's drone program for “making artillery and armored vehicles look obsolete,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has boasted that his country is “building its own arsenal,” according to Politico.

But Papperger argued that Ukraine's systems are not as sophisticated as the products of major Western defense firms. “This is not Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics or Rheinmetall technology,” he said.

Critics from Kiev

Papperger's statements caused outrage in Kiev and also spawned the #MadeByHousewives hashtag on Ukrainian social media, where users responded with jokes and memes highlighting the effectiveness of Ukrainian drones and their anti-drone defense systems.

A harsh reaction came from Alexander Kamishin, an adviser to the leader in Kiev, who wrote on the X network to recall the successes achieved by Ukrainian drones against Russian tanks.

Kamîşin said that during his visits to the weapons factories, he “quite often saw Ukrainian women working on an equal footing with men.”

“They are excellent housewives, but they have to work hard in the armaments factories,” he said, adding, addressing the Rheinmetall company: “they deserve respect.”

Rheinmetall's message, after the director's statements

Rheinmetall mentioned Kamîșin in a post on its own X account on Sunday, in which the group attempted to apologise.

“We have the utmost respect for the immense efforts made by the Ukrainian people to defend themselves,” the company said, adding that “every woman and every man in Ukraine makes an invaluable contribution.”

“It is a great honor for Ukraine that it is fighting with such efficiency despite limited resources,” the message published by Rheinmetall also states.

The reaction of the Ukrainian Prime Minister

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svîrîdenko said later on Sunday on X that “the Ukrainian people deserve not only the utmost respect, but also to be listened to – and taken as an example.”

“Yes, the defense of Europe is provided by Ukrainian 'housewives',” she wrote, along with the hashtag #MadeByHousewives.

Yaroslav Kalinin, chief executive of Ukrainian defense firm Infozahyst, argued that military innovations should be judged by their effectiveness on the battlefield, not their technological complexity. “A $500 FPV drone destroying a tank worth millions – that's innovation,” he wrote on Facebook. “Not by your corporate standards, but by the only standard that matters in war – efficiency,” Kalinin emphasized.

Denis Dovgopoliy, a Ukrainian technology investor, said Papperger's statements show a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept of innovation.

The head of Rheinmetall has spent decades in an industry where “a product developed 10 years ago is considered innovative,” while heavy platforms such as tanks “will hardly be used in future wars,” as can be seen “already … on the battlefields of Ukraine,” Dovgopoliy wrote on Facebook.

He concluded with a direct retort to Papperger: “What can he possibly know about innovation?”

Rheinmetall's activity increased with the war

Volodymyr Zelensky is currently on a Middle East tour to promote Ukrainian expertise in drone warfare to countries in the region facing Iranian drone and missile attacks.

Rheinmetall's business has grown significantly since Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which triggered a wave of rearmament in Europe.

Based in Düsseldorf, western Germany, the group has benefited in particular from increased defense spending in his country, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to turn the Bundeswehr into Europe's largest conventional army.