Ukraine not yet ready to counter Russia’s expanding drone strikes, expert says

Valeriy Borovyk, a serviceman in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Chairman of the New Energy of Ukraine Alliance, and founder of the First Contact drone company, shared his views with Espreso TV.

"The journalists at The Economist prepare their reports carefully. The outlet is known for its quality analysis because they verify information from many sources. That’s why we should pay attention to their conclusions and take steps to counter possible Russian actions," he said.

Borovyk also reminded that The Economist reported on Russia’s growing drone production. According to the outlet, Russia can produce 300 drones in less than three days and plans to increase that to 500.

“Of course, this might be an exaggeration, but it’s important to critically evaluate such data. Even if Russia produces 200 drones instead of 300, imagine the scale — 200 kamikaze drones every day. If the intense strikes we’ve seen over the past three days continue, the situation will become very difficult. This is a serious challenge,” Borovyk emphasized.

He added that Ukraine is not yet fully ready to face this challenge — neither in air defense nor in response capabilities.

“We still don’t have the ability to carry out massive long-range strikes on 200 to 400 targets daily. We can do such strikes occasionally, after building up resources, but not every day, unfortunately, no. Meanwhile, Russia already has that capability in theory. And sadly, this trend will likely only get stronger,” Borovyk said.

• The main challenge for Ukraine’s air defense remains the sharp rise in enemy drone numbers. Russia can now produce 300 drones in under three days, says a report by The Economist.