The aggressor’s first actions were the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. From this…
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported that units of the Unmanned Systems Forces alone neutralized more than 33,000 occupiers.
He reported this on social media.
It is noted that this refers exclusively to video-confirmed cases, while actual enemy losses are significantly higher.
The Commander-in-Chief thanked the soldiers of the unmanned systems units for their effective combat work and steady growth in enemy elimination indicators.
According to him, last year became a year of a significant breakthrough in the development of the unmanned component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Capability growth in this area will continue — relevant plans are already in place for 2026.
Current challenges and future tasks were discussed with commanders of leading USF units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. Special attention was paid to scaling effective solutions and exchanging practical combat experience.
The enemy is not standing still: Russia develops its unmanned component
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, the enemy is also actively developing its unmanned component. The aggressor state has created separate unmanned systems forces numbering about 80,000 personnel.
In 2026, the occupiers plan to increase these forces to 165,500, and by 2030 — to nearly 210,000 servicemen.
In addition, the state defense order for long-range drones in the Russian Federation was fulfilled at 106% over the year, and the Russian defense industry produces more than 400 such UAVs per day.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine clearly understand the scale of future confrontation in the air and on the ground. In modern warfare, dominance in unmanned systems is a top priority.
Key tasks include forming specialized units capable of effectively detecting and destroying enemy drone units, control points, crews, and high-tech assets.
Results of USF operations and development of Unmanned Systems
According to Syrskyi, whoever has superiority in the quantity and quality of unmanned systems preserves the lives of their soldiers and inflicts significantly greater losses on the enemy. Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to maintain superiority in the number of FPV drone deployments.
In December:
- Unmanned aerial systems units carried out about 339,000 missions;
- Ground robotic complexes — nearly 2,100 missions;
- The total number of hit and destroyed targets increased by 31%;
- Enemy personnel losses increased by more than 25%.
An important part of the joint work was presentations by commanders of leading unmanned systems units, who shared experience in combat use of drones, ground robotic complexes, and their own technical developments. According to the Commander-in-Chief, the enemy has already felt their “explosive power”.
In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have launched a technical support system for unmanned systems and an information support system for manufacturers.
“We are working productively in these critical areas”, — Oleksandr Syrskyi concluded.
