Ukraine holds advantage over Russia in FPV drones, continues to increase it - Syrsky
In the area of FPV drones, the Defense Forces of Ukraine hold an advantage over the enemy in a ratio of 1.5 to 1, and over the past months, this advantage continues to grow in favor of Ukrainians, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky said.
"In May, unmanned systems units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine hit almost 180,000 verified enemy targets — 12.7% more than in April. About 4,000 Russian Shahed-type drones were neutralized, which is 27% higher than the previous month’s figure. Also, about 10,000 positions of operators of enemy unmanned aerial complexes were hit," Syrsky said on his Telegram channel.
In addition, he said, since the beginning of 2026, Ukrainian drone operators neutralized 12,500 more Russian occupiers than Russia recruited into its armed forces during the same period.
During a monthly meeting on the development of unmanned systems, Syrsky said that the implementation of the program to strike the enemy at operational-tactical depth using Middle Strike assets was analyzed separately.
"In this area, we have positive dynamics. In May alone, the Defense Forces carried out almost 2,000 strikes using Middle Strike assets. In particular, 414 enemy headquarters, command posts, concentration areas, and other important enemy objects were hit. Effective and massive strikes on enemy rear areas at a distance of up to 200 kilometers became possible, in particular, due to the creation of relevant coordination centers in corps. This allowed for improved interaction between different units and components of the Defense Forces, ensuring better coordination of efforts and, as a result, achieving tangible results," Syrsky said.
At the same time, he emphasized that positive trends and good results should not cause complacency.
"It is necessary to continue building the capabilities of unmanned systems, increasing the scale of their use, and improving the quality of training for our specialists. The enemy is also actively developing this area, copying our successful management and technological solutions, and searching for its own ways to improve. This is evidenced by data from the battlefield as well as information provided by military intelligence. At the same time, Russia faces serious difficulties in staffing its unmanned systems units. Since the beginning of the year, only 14,500 people have been recruited to such units on contract, which is about 21% of the annual plan. An attempt to massively involve students of higher education institutions in this work also did not meet expectations," Syrsky said.