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Robert Brovdi, the architect of Ukraine's drone war, says Moscow is building a giant army of unmanned systems and copying Ukrainian technology
Russia is intensively copying unmanned military systems developed by Ukraine and is rapidly expanding its drone units on the warfront. The warning comes from Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine's drone forces and one of Kiev's most important figures in modern warfare.
In an interview with Ukrainian media, Brovdi stated that Moscow is building a giant drone warfare structure, aiming to double the personnel involved in this sector by the end of 2026.
According to him, at the beginning of this year, Russian unmanned systems units numbered about 86,000 people, while the goal is for this force to reach 168,000 military personnel and specialists, including drone operators, technicians, artificial intelligence and telecommunications experts.
" The Russians have technical knowledge in some areas, but they usually copy our drones. It's easier for them to copy than to invent something from scratch ," Brovdi said.
The Ukrainian commander is considered one of Moscow's most wanted men after President Volodymyr Zelensky. Before the war, he was a businessman in the seed and grain trade sector, with no military experience. After the Russian invasion in 2022, he created the famous "Magyar Skifters" unit, initially composed of civilians, technology enthusiasts, and civilian drone operators.
The group initially used commercial Mavic-type drones from the Chinese company DJI for reconnaissance and monitoring, but gradually turned into one of the most effective structures of the Ukrainian war with unmanned vehicles.
Brovdi acknowledges that Ukraine risks losing the strategic advantage it gained at the start of the war thanks to its innovative use of drones. However, he argues that Russia still lags behind in two key areas: centralized drone control and satellite communications.
He also warned that Russia is investing billions of rubles in expanding its drone fleet, although some of the funds, according to him, will be lost due to corruption.
" In the end, however, this means that the number of Russian drones on the front will increase significantly ," he said.
A significant part of Ukraine's success is related to the cheap and fast production of drones. The Ukrainian company "General Cherry", created during the war in 2023, currently produces about 100 thousand drones per year for the Ukrainian army.
Its latest model, the "Khmarynka," is a lightweight kamikaze drone costing around $1,000 per unit, capable of carrying up to seven kilograms of explosives and hitting military targets up to 50 kilometers away.
According to the report, the drone was developed through "reverse engineering", copying and modifying Russian "Molniya" models.
Brovdi said that Ukraine continues to have an advantage thanks to its connection to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network, which allows Ukrainian drones to operate even in areas where GPS and radio signals are weak or blocked.
However, Russia is working on creating its own alternative system to Starlink, which according to Kiev could change the technological balance in the future.
The report emphasizes that the war in Ukraine has transformed the modern mode of military conflict, turning drone warfare into one of the main elements of battle on land, air and sea.
Meanwhile, the United States is also trying to recover lost ground in this sector. The Pentagon has requested over $13 billion for the development of advanced drones with artificial intelligence, capable of making autonomous decisions on the battlefield without direct operator intervention. /Adapted from "Protothema"
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