Russia boosting drone production: Ukraine’s intelligence names planned number of Shaheds this year

Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, says Russia is significantly ramping up output of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). He says the aggressor seeks full import substitution of components and has ambitious plans for drone output in 2025.

He made the comments in an interview with Suspilne.

«Unfortunately, the Russian Federation can increase the pace of production of various types of UAVs. I will give the main figures. They plan to produce 79,000 Shahed-type UAVs in 2025. Breaking it down: Geranium-2 — 40,000 units, Harpiya-1 — 5,700, Gerbera and other decoys — about 34,000. These are the plans of the Russian Federation, ” Skibitskyi said.

He says Russia has set up additional production lines, including in Izhevsk and Yelabuga, to reach these numbers. According to him, the aggressor state is trying to fully replace all required components with domestically made ones.

«Thus, Russia is trying to be self-sufficient in producing this type of weapon. The potential is there. Our task is to prevent this, not allow such growth, and, if possible, destroy the production facilities themselves, ” he said.

He stresses that Russia does have the capacity to increase production, so Ukraine’s countermeasures must be active.