Ukraine’s cheap, effective drones boost defense and exports, but extensive politicization and complex bureaucracy risk slowing production at a critical moment.

But they spared civilian boats, even those carrying Russian oil from Russian ports to finance the Russian war on Ukraine. Only in the past two weeks has Ukraine set aside those rules of engagement. Amid the latest U.

Ukrainian sea drones on Wednesday hit and disabled a tanker involved in trading Russian oil as it sailed through Ukraine's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea to the Russian port of Novorossiysk,

Russia’s attacks on Ukraine by air have reached record levels in 2025, turning the war into a competition of industrial power as much as military skill. Early in 2024, Russia sent about 1,000 Shahed drones each month.

Pilots being able to control many drones is "kind of a prerequisite" for "the total drone warfare that is coming to all of us," Ark Robotics told BI.

On Dec. 6, Russia launched a sweeping attack on Ukraine, comprising 653 drones and 51 missiles. Ukraine’s Air Force reported intercepting 585 drones and 30 missiles; still, impacts targeting primarily energy infrastructure were recorded in 29 locations.

Ukraine is increasingly using interceptors to destroy Russian drones, and its best pilots are often young videogame aces.