Biden says Ukrainian soldiers are ‘making fools’ of Russian military thanks to US weapons

President Joe Biden visited a Lockheed Martin weapons manufacturing facility on Tuesday and thanked the company’s workers for assembling Javelin anti-tank missiles, which Ukrainian fighters have used to fight off the Russian invasion.  

‘You’re allowing the Ukrainians to defend themselves and quite frankly they’re making fools of the Russian military in many instances,’ Biden told workers at a plant in Troy, Alabama. 

The Biden administration has committed to sending 5,500 Javelins to Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin started invading the country on February 24. 

President Joe Biden speaks to workers at a Lockheed Martin weapons factory on Tuesday in Troy, Alabama 

President Joe Biden gets shown how Javelin anti-tank missiles are constructed at a tour of an Alabama Lockheed Martin plant Tuesday 

President Joe Biden shakes the hand of a worker Tuesday at Lockheed Martin’s weapons factory in Troy, Alabama

Javelin ant-tank missiles are seen at Lockheed Martin’s Pike County Operations facility in Troy, Alabama on Tuesday 

President Joe Biden arrives at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama on Tuesday prior to touring the Lockheed Martin Pike County Operations facility where they manufacture Javelin anti-tank missiles in Troy, Alabama 

People watch as President Joe Biden arrives at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama on Tuesday to tour a Lockheed Martin plant

Biden took a brief tour of the plant before delivering a speech. 

‘You realize how many lives you’ve saved,’ Biden told one woman during the tour. ‘Tell you what, you make a gigantic difference to the rest of the world.’ 

He kept the compliments coming once he got onstage. 

He was introduced by Linda Griffin, a senior missile assembler for the Javelin program, who shouted out she had touched every one of the ‘50,000!’ Javelins made in Troy. 

‘I tell you what Linda, if I was CEO of this company I would be worried,’ Biden joked, complimenting her spirited introduction when he took over the podium. 

Biden said he made the trek to Alabama to say ‘thank you, thank you, thank you,’ to the workers. 

‘We know that the United States is leading our allies and partners around the world to make sure the courageous Ukrainians who are fighting for the future of the nation have the weapons and the capacity and ammunition and equipment to defend themselves against Putin’s brutal war,’ Biden said. 

‘A lot of war crimes are being committed,’ the president continued. 

‘But what we don’t always see is the work that makes so much of this possible – and that’s you,’ Biden added. ‘You make it possible for them to have a shot.’ 

President Joe Biden talks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews ahead of his trip to Alabama on Tuesday 

‘You’re making a gigantic difference for these poor sons of guns under such enormous pressure and firepower,’ he also said. 

Biden said that Ukrainians have been so thankful that they’re naming babies after the weapons. 

‘In fact, they’ve been so important there’s even a story about Ukrainian parents naming their children – not a joke – their newborn child “Javelin” or “Javelina,”‘ Biden said. 

He, again, pushed Congress to pass a $33 billion supplemental that would further fund the U.S. effort to arm Ukraine. 

The request includes an additional $20 billion in military aid toward Ukraine, which would also go toward resupplying the U.S.’s munitions stockpile, which is dwindling due to the war effort. 

The president also segued and talked about semiconductors, asking lawmakers to pass the CHIPS Act, which would bolster U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.