Key facts
- Ukraine needs additional financing to dramatically increase daily drone production.
- President Zelensky stated Kyiv's challenge is not capacity but funding for drone production.
- Russia is launching up to 1,000 Shahed-type drones per day.
- Ukraine currently produces 200-300 drones per day and aims to match Russia's numbers.
- Finnish President Alexander Stubb supports increased funding for Ukraine's deep strikes to raise costs for Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine requires significantly more financial support to dramatically increase its daily drone production, aiming to pressure Russia into peace negotiations. During a press conference at the Coalition of the Willing summit in Kyiv on Aug. 24, Zelensky emphasized that while Ukraine possesses the capacity to scale up its drone manufacturing, the primary obstacle is a lack of sufficient financing.
Zelensky highlighted that Russia has intensified its drone attacks, launching up to 1,000 Shahed-type drones daily. To counter this and make the war 'painful' for Russia by bringing it back to Russian territory, Kyiv needs to match Moscow's output. Ukraine currently produces approximately 200-300 drones per day and believes it can triple this number with less funding than Russia allocates to its drone industry, but this still necessitates a larger budget.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who attended the summit, concurred that Ukraine needs more funding for deep strikes against Russia, describing it as a sensible military strategy. He explained that increasing Ukraine's capacity for such strikes, whether with missiles or drones, raises the cost of the war for Russia, which he believes is the only way to bring Moscow to the peace negotiation table.
Russia has escalated the scale and frequency of its attacks in spring and summer 2026, making it one of the deadliest periods for civilians. In late March 2026, Russia set a new record by launching nearly 1,000 drones at Ukraine in a single day, with recent attacks involving up to 500 Shahed-type drones. These Iranian-designed drones, with Russian-produced versions known as Geran-2, are valued for their large warheads and are often modified for increased deadliness.