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Czechia joins international drone coalition to boost Ukraine's arsenal

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A drone takes off into the sky in Donetsk Oblast.
A drone takes off into the sky against the background of sunset on June 28, 2024, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Czechia joined the drone coalition for Ukraine led by Latvia and the U.K. after its delegation signed a memorandum of understanding during the NATO summit in Washington, the Latvian Defense Ministry announced on July 22.

The drone coalition was established in January to bolster Ukraine's arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Czech Republic became the 16th member of the coalition, along with Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Lithuania, among other members.

"I am absolutely delighted to welcome the Czech Republic to the drone coalition, which helps Ukraine fight back the Russian invasion," Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds said.

"Every member state of the coalition can make a significant contribution to Ukraine's efforts and also support the development of their national industry at the same time," the minister added.

On July 10, the British government announced that the coalition member states had signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint fund worth 45 million euros ($49 million) to assist Ukraine.

Ukraine has intensified its efforts to ramp up domestic production of attack drones, aiming to manufacture 1 million drones this year.

Kyiv officially presented its Unmanned Systems Forces on June 11, four months after President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree ordering the creation of a separate branch of the armed forces tasked with improving drone operations.

Ukraine may have surpassed Russia in number of drones, commander says
“In terms of the number of drones, we are clearly not losing, and we may have even surpassed (Russia),” said Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Vadym Sukharevskyi.
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Kateryna Hodunova

News Editor

Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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