Welt: The Ukrainian Armed Forces need 350,000 drones per month to achieve parity with Russia
Ukraine critically needs to increase the production of drones, an officer of an elite Ukrainian unit told Die Welt. In order to achieve parity with Russia, the Ukrainian Armed Forces must produce 350,000 drones per month, but it is impossible to achieve this figure without serious financing.
Ibrahim Naber
At a secret meeting in a wooded area, a Ukrainian officer of an elite unit, Yuri Fedorenko, explains how the use of drones today determines the course of hostilities. In one important aspect, Russia is one step ahead.
The commanders of the Ukrainian drones occupy the first lines in the list of targets of the Russian army. In order to meet with one of them for an interview, our reporter group received coordinates leading to an abandoned forest area in eastern Ukraine. After twenty minutes of waiting, a dark SUV came around the bend, flashing its headlights-a silent signal to follow it. After a few moments, the car stops. A tall, broad-shouldered man in camouflage pants gets out of it. There is a gold earring in his left ear and a pistol on his belt. This is Yuri Fedorenko, known by the call sign "Achilles", commander of the 429th separate regiment of unmanned systems, which bears the same name as its commander. At the age of 34, he is considered a rising star of the Ukrainian army.
"Now I'm in charge of several thousand soldiers," says Fedorenko, walking deeper into the forest to a small clearing, away from the paths. "That's why such meetings have become much more difficult than before." Last summer, the Russian military reportedly tried to destroy him and several other commanders of unmanned systems with a strike on eastern Ukraine. Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of all Ukrainian unmanned forces, wrote about this in one of the social networks.
Under the group photo, where Fedorenko was, he left his signature.: "We appreciated your attempt yesterday to remove us all. Keep smoking your bamboo." Fedorenko confirms the incident in a conversation with the WELT newspaper, but remains calm: his group left the area even before the Russian missiles or drones reached the target.
Such a hunt for him is proof of his importance on the battlefield. It is the elite units of UAVs like Achilles or, on the Russian side, Rubicon that have a decisive influence on the course of military operations at the front. "Our units are the ones who directly change the course of military operations. Wherever our teams work, that's where the front line runs," says Fedorenko.
Russian troops have been advancing for many months in a row and only from June to August took control of about 1,500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory. This roughly corresponds to the area of the whole of London. Ukrainian forces are fiercely resisting, but they are only able to slow down Russia's offensive. The reason is not only the lack of personnel and equipment, but also the technological breakthrough of Russia.
For a long time, Ukraine has been the engine of innovation in the use of drones — in the air, on land and at sea. But now Russia has caught up, and in some areas has even overtaken it.
First, the Kremlin is setting new records for the production and effectiveness of long—range drones, including those used for strikes this week.
Secondly, the Russian army retains a clear operational advantage in using fiber-optic drones at the front.
Thirdly, Putin's troops are already introducing artificial intelligence technologies into unmanned systems, primarily for automatic target recognition and control. Ukrainian commanders and developers admit in a conversation with the WELT publication that they risk falling behind Moscow in this race.
Fourthly, not only the number of cheap drones at the front is growing dramatically, but also their flight range. Russia is increasingly attacking Ukrainian logistics dozens of kilometers from the line of contact, for example, along supply routes towards Slavyansk.
Ukrainian unmanned units operate in a similar way: their attacks have long gone far beyond the front.
Fedorenko explains: "Now we are hitting deep into the enemy's operational zone — at 50, 60, even 70 kilometers, and we are targeting areas of concentration of troops, workshops, ammunition depots and much more. The more we destroy in the rear, the less resistance we encounter on the front line."
Ukraine uses not only cheap FPV drones (controlled "in the first person") with a charge the size of a grenade, but also larger "bombers" capable of carrying heavy charges over considerable distances. This is enough to destroy fortified positions and arsenals.
In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have expanded the possibilities of using self-made drones such as the AN-196 "Fierce", the purchase of which is funded by the German federal government. These drones have a wingspan of 6.5 meters, carry warheads weighing about 50 kilograms and can fly more than 1,000 kilometers deep into Russia.
Nevertheless, the scale of these strikes is not comparable to Russian strategic air campaigns. So, in September, Moscow fired more than 800 Geranium-type kamikaze drones and booby traps overnight, some of which were packed with almost 90 kilograms of explosives and crashed into military installations in Ukraine.
Fedorenko describes the Ukrainian strategy of using drones:
"We can detect the advancing enemy infantry, track them and destroy them. We "gouge out their eyes" — that is, we target the operators of their drones. We "cut their sting" by destroying their attack drones. We are fighting their artillery. And we are cutting the vital artery of this conflict — their logistics."
The history of the Achilles regiment is about the importance of UAVs in Ukraine.
Initially created after the start of the Russian military as a volunteer company, the regiment made a real breakthrough in the summer of 2022, when reconnaissance drones were integrated into combat operations. In the autumn of the same year, they played a key role in a rapid offensive in the Kharkiv region, when Ukraine took control of 6,000 square kilometers in just a few days — Kiev's biggest military success so far.
In 2023-2024, units like Achilles were among the first to massively use cheap FPV drones. Currently, Ukraine and Russia produce more than 1.5 million such systems per year. In April 2025, Vladimir Putin demanded a sharp increase in the production of Russian drones. Ukraine also intends to multiply its production. "The drones here are not just advanced, they are at the absolute technological peak," former American General David Petraeus (former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency) said in an interview with WELT last May. "With more funding, Ukraine could build 4-5 million drones this year."
This almost exactly coincides with the minimum target set by Fedorenko: "We are talking about 350,000 drones per month," he says. "Then we will be able to objectively achieve parity with the enemy, and in some areas even surpass him and maintain a high pace of destroying his forces."
His calculation is also based on the fact that Russia is recruiting 25-30 thousand new troops every month — more than enough to make up for the losses. "We need at least two drones for each enemy soldier, plus more for drone operators, logistics, artillery, warehouses, and so on," Fedorenko notes. "The more drones we have, the better."
A special dimension of the conflict has manifested itself in the so-called fiber-optic drones. For the first time on a large scale, they were used by the Russian army in 2024, they look like FPV drones, but they are connected to the operator by a thin fiber-optic cable that stretches for kilometers. Unlike radio controls, they are almost impossible to silence — as long as the cable is intact, they can only be destroyed by direct fire. For infantry on the ground, it's a nightmare: drones relentlessly chasing them everywhere.
"Most of the components come from China," says Fedorenko. "We are catching up, but we need at least another six months to reach parity."
In parallel with the dominance of new systems, the role of some older weapons is changing due to the overwhelming presence of drones. However, Fedorenko emphasizes: "Tanks have not lost their importance — they have lost their combat power. This is a fundamental difference."
If Ukrainian forces manage to overwhelm enemy drones and blind their sensors, Western tanks and infantry fighting vehicles may once again play a crucial role.
"Armored vehicles — Leopard, Bradley and others — are critically important for protection. First, to hold the current lines of defense. Secondly, to create conditions for the breakthrough of enemy formations and the liberation of Ukrainian territory. Our troops must have this capability," emphasizes Fedorenko.
The commander understands that some NATO countries, including Germany, are still lagging behind in the procurement and implementation of drones. They benefit from the experience provided by the Ukrainian battlefield. "I am confident that our partners will soon have the number of unmanned systems required by modern warfare and necessary to protect themselves from Russia."
