Russia establishes Unmanned Systems Forces, Ukraine says it's just 'copying our successful approaches'
Russia has established an Unmanned Systems Forces, Russian state media reported on Nov. 12.
"Operational regiments and other units have been formed," Sergey Ishtuganov, the deputy head of the new unit, said in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda.
"Combat work of the unmanned systems units is being carried out following a single plan and in cooperation with other units in battlegroups," he added.
A separate branch of Ukraine's Armed Forces dedicated to unmanned systems was formed in 2024.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, said that Russia "copied (Ukraine's) successful approaches" as Ukraine's Armed Forces UAV units are now operating "very effectively."
"But the Russians are copying and trying to scale our innovations in terms of quantity. This is a threat, of course," Kovalenko said.
"Right now, we are ahead of them in the development of UAVs. At the same time, it is very difficult to see how far behind the European NATO armies are," he added.
Various aerial, naval, and ground drones have been developed and often successfully used for reconnaissance, combat, and other tasks throughout the full-scale with Russia. Ukraine said it aims to produce 1 million drones this year, in addition to the thousands pledged by foreign partners.
The Ukrainian military has proven to be a pioneer in drone technology, using innovative ways to undermine Russia's material and numerical advantage.
Aerial drones have been used to ram into Russian helicopters or drop molten metal on ground positions, while naval drones were a key component in upending Russia's dominance in the Black Sea.
Russia has also widely deployed drone capabilities during the full-scale invasion, both on the battlefield and to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
