Deputy Commander: Ukraine not trying to replace artillery with drones

Ukraine is not trying to replace artillery with drones on the battlefield, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Vadym Sukharevskyi said on Feb. 25.

High-ranking Ukrainian officials met to discuss Ukraine’s future at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum on Feb. 25, one day after the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale war.

The forum discussed achieving Ukraine’s goals in the war, developing its defense and security forces, implementing Ukraine’s peace formula, ensuring economic growth and integration into world markets, security guarantees, the status of its military-industrial complex, and protecting the lives of Ukrainians.

Ukraine's goal in 2024 is to meet Russian forces on the battlefield with drones, Sukharevskyi said at the forum.

According to Sukharevskyi, the Ukrainian military is not abandoning old systems, but rather looking for solutions to strengthen its existing capabilities.

Sukharevskyi's comment came after Digital Transformations Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated at the forum that Ukraine will achieve its goal of producing 1 million drones per year in 2024.

“At the end of last year, President (Volodymyr) Zelensky announced a plan that more than a million drones would be produced this year. Now the entire government team is working on this, and active contracting took place in January and February. Hundreds of thousands of drones have already been contracted, and this is the goal will be completed," Fedorov said.

“Our goal is to make (Russia) give up any active action on the front line and abandon the idea of occupying our country,” Sukharevskyi said.

“This will be the element that will enable us to respond asymmetrically to any actions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses, which is happening now.”

Sukharevskyi emphasized the importance of ramping up the production of drones, noting that it should entail a "systematic approach."

Among those in attendance at the "Ukraine. Year 2024" forum are Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Vadym Sukharevskyi, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, First Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, and Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba.