Ukraine has made significant progress in the development of its drone industry and now has the capacity to produce up to 10 million drones annually.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Kozenko stated that Ukrainian drones are considerably cheaper than other combat UAVs and have already been battle-tested.
“Ukraine has taken its drone sector to a new level, developing innovative solutions not only in the air, but also on land and at sea. Today, our defense industry has the capability to manufacture 10 million drones of various types per year,” he said.
Kozenko noted that, based on its extensive combat experience, Ukraine is now shaping new doctrinal approaches to the use of drones, which currently account for around 80% of all battlefield attacks. According to him, Ukrainian UAV operators are gaining unique experience daily, which informs the development of new tactical solutions.
He also called on international defense companies to cooperate with Ukraine’s defense industry, particularly through joint production, financing, and technology exchange.
Ukraine has emerged as one of the global leaders in the use of drones in the battlespace, turning UAVs into a key instrument of modern warfare. With constant improvements in technology and tactics, Ukrainian forces are striking targets deep behind enemy lines — often in places where Russian troops feel safest.
A vivid example of this was the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SBU) special operation “Spiderweb” on Sunday, during which drones simultaneously struck at least four Russian strategic bomber airbases, disabling dozens of aircraft that not only have been attacking civilian targets in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine, but also make up a leg of Moscow’s nuclear triad.
SBU has officially confirmed it carried out a major drone strike against Russian military airfields, damaging or destroying what it claims is 34 percent of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, in a long-planned covert operation codenamed “Spiderweb.”
The SBU said the strikes, which targeted airfields housing Russia’s long-range bombers, resulted in an estimated $7 billion in damage – a figure that has not yet been independently verified.
“Seven billion US dollars. This is the estimated cost of the enemy’s strategic aviation, which was hit today as a result of a special operation by the SBU – ‘Spiderweb,’” the agency said in a statement released Sunday, June 1.
Kyiv Post’s sources within Ukraine’s intelligence services earlier confirmed that at least 41 bombers were damaged or destroyed during the operation.
A photo of SBU chief Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk standing behind a schematic map of the operation accompanied the statement.
The drone attacks, launched Sunday, targeted five airfields across Russia: Belaya, Dyagilevo, Olenya, Ivanovo, and others located in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ryazan, and Amur regions.