Frontline soldiers have told openDemocracy that the Ukrainian government is failing to procure enough drones to fight the Russian invasion and is not evenly distributing them among units.
“The Ukrainian armed forces cannot provide the amount of drones that the army needs,” said Vasyl*, a Ukrainian special forces soldier who spoke on condition of anonymity. “All our needs are partially covered by volunteers, but even this is not enough.”
When Russia’s full-scale invasion began, volunteer groups were largely responsible for delivering drones to the Ukrainian frontlines, buying them in from abroad. Only a handful of domestic manufacturers existed in Ukraine and corruption and bureaucracy meant they could not sign contracts with the state.
