MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia was ramping up drone production by around ten times to nearly 1.4 million this year to ensure the Russian armed forces grab victory in Ukraine.
“In total, about 140,000 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types were delivered to the armed forces in 2023,” Putin said. “This year, the production of drones is planned to increase significantly. Well, to be more precise, almost 10 times.”
“Whoever reacts faster to these demands on the battlefield wins,” Putin said at a meeting in St Petersburg about developing drone production.
Since Russia sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Ukraine in February 2022, the war has largely been a story of grinding artillery and drone strikes along a heavily fortified 1,000-km (620-mile) front involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Both Russia and Ukraine have bought drones abroad and ramped up their own production for a range of targets – from destroying artillery and arsenals to striking at energy infrastructure and battleships.
(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Maxim Rodionov; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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