In December, Ukraine’s Armed Forces eliminated as many occupiers with drones as Russia mobilises in a month
Last month, units of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Defence Forces of Ukraine neutralised, for the first time, approximately the same number of servicemen of the occupying army as Russia conscripts in a single month. Total enemy losses exceeded 33,000 personnel.
This was reported by Oleksandr Syrskyi.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that in 2026 Ukraine plans to further expand the capabilities of its unmanned systems units. At the same time, according to military intelligence, the enemy is also actively developing this area.
“Russia has followed our path and created separate unmanned systems forces, which already number around 80,000 servicemen. At the second stage, in 2026, they plan to double this number to 165,500, and by 2030 to almost 210,000,” Syrskyi stated.
According to him, Russia’s state order for the production of long-range drones has been fulfilled at 106% over the year, while the aggressor state’s military-industrial complex produces more than 400 such UAVs every day.
The Commander-in-Chief also reported that he has tasked the military with forming specialised units to effectively detect and destroy enemy high-tech drone units, command posts, and crews of unmanned aerial systems.
“Whoever has an advantage in the quantity and quality of unmanned systems preserves more of their own soldiers and destroys the enemy more effectively. We continue to maintain an advantage in the number of FPV drone deployments,” Syrskyi emphasised.
He added that in December, units of unmanned aerial systems carried out around 339,000 missions, while ground robotic systems completed nearly 2,100. The total number of targets hit and destroyed by Defence Forces drones increased by 31%, while enemy personnel losses rose by more than a quarter.
Russian occupation forces continue their offensive in Donetsk Oblast. According to DeepState, the enemy has advanced in the areas of Fedorivka and Novomarkove, in the Bakhmut and Kramatorsk districts. A map of the advance has been published on the platform.
