In production of thousands of long-range drones, that will be able to carry out strikes deep inside Russian territory, Ukraine is advancing in 2024. Already, drones manufactured by 10 companies can reach in Moscow and Saint Petersburgemphasized the Minister of Digital Transition of Ukraine.

Mykhailo Fedorov spoke about the wartime drone industry in an interview in Kiev in which he revealed new details about the industry, following a wave of drone attacks on Russian oil facilities in recent weeks.

“The category of long-range kamikaze drones is getting bigger, with ranges of 300, 500, 700 and 1,000 kilometers. Two years ago, this category did not exist… at all,” he told Reuters.

Fedorov, 33, is at the center of Ukraine’s push to develop private military startups to innovate and grow the drone industry as the war enters its third year and Ukraine seeks new ways to respond to Russian forces.

The recent string of oil rig strikes, he said, reflected the Ukrainian government’s progress in rapidly deregulating the drone market and increasing funding for it, with the state acting as a syndicated investor.

About US$2.5 million in grants have gone to military startups through the BRAVE1 initiative the government created last year, an amount expected to grow roughly tenfold by 2024, he noted.

Ukraine’s production scale and deliveries increased more than 120 times in 2023, according to Fedorov, as part of a broader military push to develop and produce drones to close the gap with Russia’s strike capabilities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree in February to create a new branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine specifically dedicated to drones.

Zelensky said in January that one of Ukraine’s main goals for 2024 was to surpass Russia in the production of drones. Kiev has already successfully used Turkish Bayraktar drones.