Ukraine is preparing for a major escalation in drone warfare as Russia plans to expand its unmanned forces twofold in 2026, according to Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. He said Ukrainian military intelligence has uncovered the Kremlin’s intentions to more than double its existing drone troops by next year and scale that number even further by 2030.
Russia’s drone expansion forces urgent countermeasures
Ukraine established its Unmanned Systems Forces as a separate branch of the military in February 2024.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that Syrskyi said Russia has already created its separate drone force of 80,000 personnel and is moving to expand it.
“At the second stage, in 2026, they plan to expand it twofold — to 165,500,” he said, adding that this number could rise to “almost 210,000” by 2030.
He noted that Moscow’s ambitions reflect its increasing reliance on unmanned systems in modern combat, and that Ukraine must respond accordingly.
“Thanks to our military intelligence, we know that the enemy has no less ambitious plans,” Syrskyi said.
According to him, Russia’s military-industrial complex is rapidly boosting drone production as well.
“We know that the state order for the production of long-range drones in Russia has been fulfilled by 106% in a year, and the aggressor state's military-industrial complex produces more than 400 such UAVs daily,” Syrskyi said.
Ukraine scales its own drone forces and launches drone crew hunter units
Syrskyi emphasized that Ukraine had significantly boosted its drone capabilities in 2025.
“The drone component in the Armed Forces of Ukraine has grown significantly. We are not stopping,” he said. “For 2026, we have planned further capacity building of the UAV units.”
To counter Russia’s growing drone presence, Syrskyi ordered the formation of special units aimed at detecting and eliminating enemy UAV operations. The focus will be not only on the drone pilots themselves but also on their command and control.
“In modern warfare, this is a top priority,” he stressed. These new formations will be tasked with “effectively detecting and destroying enemy high-tech drone units, command points, and crews of the occupiers’ unmanned aviation systems.”
