President Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies launched the FREYJA Anti-Ballistic Missile Program on Monday, setting a 12-month goal to develop an affordable, mass-produced system capable of protecting Ukraine and the wider continent. The initiative was unveiled alongside the inaugural meeting of the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, bringing Ukraine together with Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The program represents an effort to transform Ukraine from a recipient of Western air-defense equipment into a co-developer of a new European anti-ballistic capability. According to the Ukrainian president, each participating country possesses important elements of the future system, while Ukraine has missiles under development that remain only individual components. Combining those technologies with European radars, financing and industrial capacity could produce a complete FREYJA system within the next year. Russia’s ‘final bet’ Zelensky framed the initiative as an urgent response to Russia’s increasing reliance on ballistic missile attacks after failing to break Ukraine on the battlefield. “Ballistic missile strikes have become Russia’s final bet,” the Ukrainian leader said, describing them as Vladimir Putin’s remaining means of prolonging the war. Ukraine’s battlefield positions are now stronger than during any previous year of the full-scale invasion, leaving Moscow increasingly dependent on long-range attacks against cities, infrastructure and civilians.