Ukrainian government allocates money for 300 thousand drones

The Ukrainian government is increasing its spending on drones by an additional 15.5 billion hryvnia ($392 million), Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday, as unmanned surveillance and combat aircraft become increasingly important assets for Kiev in its fight against Russia.

“With the funds allocated today, 300,000 drones will be delivered to our security and defense forces,” he said at a Cabinet meeting in Kiev. According to Shmyhal, Ukraine had already budgeted 43.3 billion hryvnias for the purchase of drones this year.

Ukraine has rapidly expanded the development and production of drones of various types under pressure from Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of the country more than two years ago. In recent weeks, it has also increasingly attacked the interior of Russia with these weapons.

The Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Tuesday that three Ukrainian combat drones had been intercepted in the border regions of Belgorod and Kursk.

One woman was killed and another injured by an unspecified Ukrainian fire in the Russian border village of Kosino, according to Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit.

The reports could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine attacked Russian military bases in Crimea with US-supplied missiles.

It stated that Russian air defense systems repelled six long-range ATACMS missiles in the last 24 hours.

Independent media reported attacks on three military bases on Monday night, injuring several people.

Several soldiers were reportedly injured after a fire broke out during an attack on an air defense position near the Crimean capital Simferopol, according to independent website Astra.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed governor of Crimea, said a missile attack on the village of Donske near Simferopol had been intercepted. However, he warned about remains of unexploded ordnance.

Simferopol is more than 200 kilometers from the front line.

Dzhankoy airport in northern Crimea, where a regiment of Russian helicopters and air defense forces are stationed, was also attacked again. According to media reports, five soldiers were injured there.

Astra said four more soldiers were injured in an attack on a military target in the Chornomorske district in the northwest of the peninsula.

The US said it would supply long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine as part of the new weapons package agreed to in Congress in April.

Previous US missile deliveries had a range of 165 kilometers.

Elsewhere, Latvia will provide Ukraine with an additional military aid package, including anti-aircraft weapons and unmanned surveillance drones.

“We must ensure that Ukraine wins the war for the sake of Ukraine, European security and world order,” Prime Minister Evika Siliņa wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The air defense and drone systems will come from Latvian military stocks.