Russia accelerates drone warfare strategy, following Ukraine’s lead
Photo: Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (president.gov.ua)
Russia is copying the experience of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles and is scaling up its unmanned units, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, says.
According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he held a monthly meeting on the use and development of unmanned systems with the participation of combat unit commanders. The work on scaling up drone units is yielding results: in May, over 89,000 Russian targets were hit and destroyed with the help of drones.
"I heard a report from intelligence on the formation of unmanned systems troops in the Russian army and the arrival of new models of drones and ground-based robotic complexes to arm the Russian troops. In particular, the enemy is copying the experience of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and actively scaling up its unmanned units," Syrskyi added.
Syrskyi noted that the Defense Forces are maintaining their pace of development and constantly increasing their capabilities in order to stay one step ahead. In particular, the number of unmanned systems crews is increasing, and their unmanned units are being developed.
"During the meeting, the issue of the development of unmanned ground systems was also discussed. They perform logistical functions on the battlefield, evacuate wounded soldiers, carry out mining, and also act as combat modules. Compared to 2024, we have significantly increased the supply of such systems to military units and increased the training of unmanned training complex specialists," said the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In April, according to Syrskyi, Ukrainian drones hit and destroyed over 83,000 Russian targets, which is 8% more than in March.
