Ukrainian naval units destroyed over 37,000 Russian drones in the year 2024, the Navy reported on Jan. 1.
This includes Russian strike drones, operational and tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), first-person-view (FPV) drones, strike UAVs, and Shahed-type attack drones, the Navy said in a Facebook post.
Ukrainian naval forces also destroyed five Russian ships and 458 watercraft.
Russia's UAV losses included 35,670 destroyed FPV drones and 1,140 strike drones, the Navy said. Ukrainian units also eliminated 192 operational and tactical drones and another 164 Shahed-136/131 drones.
Russian drone attacks across Ukraine surged to record levels in the last months of 2024, with Moscow aiming to ramp up UAV production in the new year. Drone strikes have targeted Ukrainian residential neighborhoods and critical energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian forces in turn have targeted Russian military facilites and equipment, both within Russia and in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.
A Ukrainian-made Magura V5 naval strike drone on Dec. 31 destroyed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter for the first time.
According to Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, Russian forces suffered high losses in 2024. Around 427,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded last year, he said.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
