Ukrainian President Zelensky thanks Scranton ammo factory workers for providing munitions for war against Russia

“I have heard that 400 people work here, but I wanted very much to come here and to thank you. Four hundred people have saved millions of Ukrainians,” Zelensky said, according to a news release that was issued to the media because journalists were not invited to attend Zelensky’s visit, the he media was not permitted inside, the Times-Tribune reported.

Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti was apparently touched to see Zelensky get up close and personal with the employees at the plant. "It was an incredibly proud moment for Scranton to welcome President Zelensky to our city and the munitions plant where so many Scrantonians work or have relatives who worked there," Cognetti said.

Zelensky toured the defense production factory for about 90 minutes at that time. Also in attendance were Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA). Cartwright passed on a message from President Joe Biden, “Thank you. And we need more.”

The factory is among a handful in the US that make the 155mm shells that are fired from large howitzers systems with long, armor-piercing barrels and that can be towed into place, the outlet noted. Incredibly, while workers in Scranton build armaments that the US can give to Ukraine, the Ukrainians are trying to sell the products of their own defense industry to other countries.

Gov. Shapiro is attempting to be a part of any peace dividend in Ukraine by signing a contract with Zaporizhzhia Regional State (Military) Administration — a province in Southeast Ukraine — that is responsible for the preparation and planning for rebuilding that sector of Ukraine after the war. Shapiro is seeking the participation of Pennsylvania businesses in the rebuilding effort as part of the state government’s Department of Community & Economic Development.

“Pennsylvania is the birthplace of American freedom – and our Commonwealth proudly stands with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom against naked aggression,” Shapiro said of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Scranton’s mayor said Zelensky’s tour was an opportunity to see what the Biden-Harris administration has used to back Ukraine. "The tour of the plant was not just a tour of where artillery shells have been made, it's also an acknowledgment of the investment of the Department of Defense," Cognetti said. "There is over a quarter of a billion dollars investment going into that plant in downtown Scranton. I think that shows the US continues to back Ukraine in this war. We all want it to be over, but it seems like it's going to be a long fight to get where Ukraine needs to be."

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has warned Americans that the foreign policy failures of the Biden-Harris administration, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East, are bringing the US to the brink of “World War III.”