As reported in an LB.ua interview with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, LB.ua
Russian strike drone of the type “Shahed-136” (“Geranium-2”) (to the right) at an exhibition in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 24, 2025. Getty Images/Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto
Russia in 2026 plans to substantially ramp up production of drones for strikes against Ukraine, aiming to deploy up to 1,000 units of this type of weapon per day. This was revealed by General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, in an interview with journalists.
He noted that Russians are currently producing about 404 strike drones of various types daily and intend to increase these volumes.
“The enemy plans to significantly ramp up production to deploy up to 1,000 drones per day. Therefore, of course, we must do everything to disrupt these plans and inflict such losses on the enemy that he abandons his active actions, and create conditions for negotiations. Because you can’t negotiate with the weak.”
– said the general
Also the commander-in-chief noted that Moscow is aided in weapon production by Iran, China, and North Korea, so Kyiv “must take appropriate actions.”
“Everything related to electronics comes from China. The technologies are Chinese. The supply of ammunition, missiles – North Korea. And, of course, Iran. Therefore the capabilities of the Russian economy remain high. We see that the pace of ammunition production, unfortunately, does not slow down, it only increases. This must be taken into account and the appropriate actions must be taken”
– Syrskyi said
When asked whether a “strategic breakthrough” in the war in Ukraine’s favor in 2026 is possible, the general outlined a number of conditions necessary to achieve it.
“Under conditions of achieving an advantage in technology, winning the race of economies, the support of our partners and allies, and building our own production, because we have every reason for this… This concerns all types of weapons, but first and foremost I mean missile weapons, creating missiles in sufficient quantities – ballistic and cruise missiles. And the use of the latest types of weapons. Laser weapons”
– he said
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces stressed that moving the Ukrainian military to “a higher level of technological equipment” will reduce the direct involvement of people in combat and also increase the involvement of machines, especially drone systems.
Earlier, the general stated that in 2025 the state order for long-range drones production in Russia was fulfilled at 106%.
In November 2025, then-head of the Ministry of Defense, Denys Shmyhal, said that the Ukrainian drone interceptor Octopus had been launched into serial production in Ukraine. The technology was handed over to the first three manufacturers, and 11 more are preparing production lines.