Ukraine has deployed more than 30 models of different unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones over the past 15 months, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported on Wednesday.
“Over 15 months, the defence ministry has already brought into service more than 30 models of UAVs of different types, reconnaissance, strike, kamikaze drones and barrage munitions,” Ukraine’s Reznikov said in a Facebook post, according to TASS. “UAV ammunition has been officially created as a separate category.”
Reznikov said that while Kyiv now assembles drones with foreign components, there are plans to manufacture the components soon domestically.
Denis Shmygal, the prime minister of Ukraine, said in July that the country had set aside over $1.1 billion this year to manufacture UAVs.
The prime minister added that the government had eliminated customs restrictions on the entry of drone parts into Ukraine, increased the producers’ profit margin to 25%, and issued a decision that “promotes mass production of drone ammunition.”
According to Shmygal, more than 40 Ukrainian companies involved in drone production have now signed contracts with the government, and “the production of UAVs has grown tenfold,” the website said.
According to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a drone has attacked a tower in Moscow, the capital of Russia, twice in the past two days.
He said several drones were shot down overnight on Monday, but “one flew into the same tower at the Moskva City complex” targeted on Sunday.
Russia’s defence ministry blamed Ukraine for the latest attack.
While declining to address blame, Kyiv warned Russia that the conflict would soon reach its soil.
