Ukraine Drone Brief – by Olena Kryzhanivska

Amid major reshuffles in Ukraine’s government and the civil protests that have followed, the war continues. Several new cooperation initiatives between the EU and Ukraine announced last week could support the creation of joint ventures and provide financing for Ukrainian producers of unmanned systems.

On the battlefield, successful campaigns are ongoing, with Ukrainian forces destroying expensive Russian air-defence systems and targeting vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet.

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Aerial Drones

• Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces reported the destruction of a Russian Mi-28 Night Hunter attack helicopter in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. It was destroyed by a SkyFall Shrike 10 FPV drone.

• On the Pokrovsk front, three Russian soldiers surrendered to a Ukrainian drone equipped with a loudspeaker. The pilots flew the drone toward the Russian positions and ordered the troops to lay down their weapons.

• Ukrainian pilots destroyed a Russian Tor air-defence system in occupied Luhansk Oblast using a Hornet kamikaze drone. The drone was nearly 5,000 times cheaper than the $25 million system it destroyed, according to the Ministry of Interior (which would be $5,000 per drone). According to Defence Express, the Hornet drone might cost between $10,000 and $11,000.

• The average operational lifespan of a DJI Mavic reconnaissance drone on the front line is approximately 7 days.

• Ukraine’s newly codified Lupynis-10 FPV drone (by The Fourth Law) features autonomous terminal guidance and can operate at distances of up to 30 km. Equipped with a thermal-imaging camera, it can maintain target lock even under EW conditions. The drone costs a bit over $1,000.

• According to Russian officials, Ukrainian intelligence services deployed FPV drones to Russia’s Bryansk region, allegedly intending to attack military airfields in the Amur and Chelyabinsk regions. The equipment had been transported in containers using fixed-wing drones and balloons. Saboteurs then reportedly retrieved the containers and transported the drones deeper into Russian territory. The attempted strikes were reportedly thwarted.

• Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) documented two new cases in which Russia used munitions containing depleted-uranium components against Ukraine. The hazardous elements were found in Geran-2 strike drones used in two attacks on Sumy Oblast in April 2026.

• Ukrainian forces shot down a rare and expensive Russian Orion UAV. The drone is valued at up to $5 million and can carry aerial bombs and Banderol loitering munitions.

Ground Drones

• Ukrainian forces used a maritime drone to transport and deploy a UGV on the Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit in Mykolaiv Oblast. After landing, the machine-gun-equipped ground robot carried out a combat mission.

  This was reportedly the first combat operation in which a maritime platform delivered a UGV to an occupied shoreline, deployed it, and enabled it to perform a combat task.

Naval Drones

• Ukraine’s National Guard unveiled its first internally designed USV. Engineers from the Omega Special Purpose Centre’s separate combat-diver unit worked with specialists from a civilian IT company to create the maritime drone. It acts as a mothership, carrying FPV drones closer to the target area before launching them to continue the mission and strike enemy positions.

Speed of Innovation

C-UAS

• OneDefence’s modular Kestrel interceptor drone has been listed on the BRAVE1 Market. It has a maximum speed of 420 km/h and a cruising speed of 250 km/h. Its tactical radius is up to 20 km, endurance up to 10 minutes, and maximum operating altitude of 6,800 metres.

• Ukrainian Unwave developed the Rebodron, a drone equipped with an integrated EW. The onboard jammer operates in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz frequency bands used by most commercial quadcopters, including DJI Mavic drones.

• In June, General Chereshnya drones destroyed more than 20,000 Russian targets. The result placed it at the top of the DELTA ranking for the effectiveness of FPV-drone use during the month.

• Russia developed modular metal structures called Pautina (“Web”) to protect infrastructure facilities from drone attacks.

Components and Supply Chain

• In 2025, Taiwan became Ukraine’s third-largest supplier of battery cells for drones, behind China and Vietnam.

• Ukrainian-Estonian Farsight Vision unveiled FSV Localizer, a tool that can instantly determine the position of enemy drones using intercepted video feeds.

Cooperation Deals

• EU-Ukraine defence industrial partnership:

  • The EU–Ukraine Drone Deal was signed. It will break down bureaucratic barriers and establish common standards, making it easier for Ukrainian and EU-based companies to enter into joint ventures.

  • The European Commission launched the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance. The Alliance brings together companies, start-ups, researchers, armed forces and other users from EU countries and Ukraine. The Commission is now preparing the first meeting of the 18 founding members scheduled to take place in Brussels in September.

  • BraveTech EU, a joint EU–Ukraine initiative, has entered its next phase. Six European companies were selected to further develop promising defence technologies: Soraccel, EdgeX Robotics, Smaesh, Kova Labs, Tempterno Defence, and Rannon.

  • Ukraine has been fully associated to the European Defence Fund (EDF) and to the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP), enabling Ukrainian and EU companies to form consortia and participate together in collaborative defence research and development projects supported by the Fund.

  • The EU will launch a €115 million investment programme for agile and rapid defence innovation, known as AGILE. Ukrainian companies will be eligible to participate, and the programme is expected to begin operating in early 2027.

• Ukraine and the Netherlands are launching the Brave Netherlands initiative. It establishes a joint fund with an expected budget of €20 mln.

Related Geopolitical Developments

• The U.S. military used armed USVs in combat for the first time during its operation in Iran. Earlier, U.S. special operations forces had tested Ukrainian Magura maritime drones during exercises in the Philippines.

• Russian and Myanmar forces held a joint demonstration of special-operations capabilities. During the exercise, troops from both countries used FPV drones and the Russian Courier UGV.

• Australia tested Quantum Systems’ Vector AI reconnaissance drone during Exercise Southern Jackaroo. It was used for deep reconnaissance, target detection, and transmitting data to support follow-on strikes. Quantum Systems’ drones have been extensively used in Ukraine, where thousands of flight hours have helped refine the platform.

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