Ukraine’s homegrown drones have become increasingly lethal, critical tools in war with Russia [Video]

Ukraine has honed its army of drones to the point where these tools have become one of its most potent weapons in fighting back against Russia’s full-scale invasion of its borders.

“Right now, the situation on the battlefield is really dependent on drones, and they are responsible for a very significant percentage of the kills on the battlefield,” Mykhailo Fedorov, the vice-prime minister of innovation, told CBC News via a translator.

How significant? A recent report from two research fellows at the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) suggests Ukraine’s attack drones now account for the majority of Russian losses on the battlefield — and they can be especially lethal when paired with artillery.

These results explain why Ukraine scaled up procurement levels from what Fedorov says started out as thousands of these devices in 2022, up to more than 1.5 million last year.

Fedorov and other officials say virtually all of Ukraine’s FPV (first-person view) attack drones are domestically …