UK sends 85,000 drones to Ukraine in six months as Russia steps up strikes

The UK has delivered more than 85,000 military drones to Ukraine over the last six months, the Defence Secretary is to say, amid a surge in Russian one-way attack drone strikes.

John Healey will say that £600 million has been invested this year to accelerate drone delivery for Kyiv’s armed forces.

The drones – including tens of thousands of short-range first-person view models – are being used for reconnaissance, precision strikes, and to disrupt Russian operations behind the front lines.

The Defence Secretary will tell the latest meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels on Wednesday that Western countries need to “ramp up drone production to outmatch (Vladimir) Putin’s escalation” following increased drone strikes in Ukraine and incursions into European airspace.

Western officials said that in September, Russia launched around 5,500 one-way attack drones into Ukraine – a significant increase from 4,100 in August.

In October so far, more than 2,400 have already been launched, with attacks focused on Ukrainian critical national infrastructure, notably gas storage and production facilities.

As Ukraine moves to safeguard its energy resources ahead of winter, Russia is “seeking to target those, unfortunately quite effectively,” officials said.

Mr Healey and his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal last month signed a technology-sharing deal through which the UK is jointly developing an interceptor drone to help Ukraine fight off Russian aerial attacks.

Battlefield data is now being used to scale up production, with the aim of sending thousands of new models to Ukraine each month.

Mr Healey, who is co-hosting the Ukraine Defence Contact Group gathering with Germany, said: “Putin’s dangerous escalation in Ukraine and across Europe must be matched by ramping up our drone production and strengthening Nato’s air defences.

“The UK is stepping up our support to Ukraine by delivering over 85,000 drones in the last six months and signing new industrial partnerships to rapidly develop thousands of new interceptor drones to shoot down Putin’s attacks. This is growing jobs in both the UK and Ukraine.

“I am also extending the UK’s commitment to Nato’s Eastern Sentry air policing mission to the end of the year to continue to deter Putin from further testing the Alliance.”

The Defence Secretary will also attend a meeting of Nato defence ministers, where he will confirm the extension of the Royal Air Force’s contribution to the defence alliance’s Eastern Sentry mission to the end of the year.

British Typhoon fighter jets have been taking part in defensive flights over Polish airspace after Russian drone incursions last month.

Counter-drone experts from the British military will also help train Moldova’s armed forces in counter-drone tactics, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The £600 million spent on drones for Ukraine has been drawn from the record £4.5 billion committed by the Government this year for its defence.

British companies including Tekever, Windracer and Malloy are among the suppliers.

Sir Keir Starmer last week said the UK was ready to progress plans to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s war effort and to try to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.

Western officials said there was “real momentum for the first time in a long time”, with expectations that plans will be “very live over the next few weeks”.

“Although that’s not quite at the decision point, it is potentially a very major turning point that will really help Ukraine ensure fiscal sustainability for the next few years,” they said.

They told reporters that a “large UK sanctions package” would be announced in due course, which alongside a EU one “will see quite large muscle moves against the Russian energy sector, against the shadow fleet, and against certain countries who are importing and profiting from Russian hydrocarbons”.

Officials said: “One of the things that we are very much trying to do through the work on assets and the work on sanctions is trying to show Putin that this is not only enormously costly – whatever it is, 450,000 casualties a year for under 1% of Ukraine’s territory – but also that Ukraine is making serious plans to sustain this and that the pressures on the economy are only likely to grow.”