Ukraine has enough drones but lacks operators — Unmanned Systems Forces

"The drone war requires, especially in our conditions, a very wide involvement of personnel, perhaps even more than if we had enough heavy weaponry and fought in the Soviet style, relatively speaking, like in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion," he explained.

The problem of having drones but needing people to fight with them remains standard, he noted.

"The reality is that there is no problem with the number of drones; there is a problem with who will go on combat duty and use them to shoot down [targets], unfortunately," he emphasized.

"To ensure 100% impenetrability against Russian drones, for example, at least to the capital — and this impenetrability clearly must be ensured, in particular, by the unmanned component — we need as many people as possible to voluntarily recruit into the military."

He recalled that USF Commander Robert Brovdi (Madyar) repeats calls to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal reported back in February 2025 that the Defense Forces lacked personnel on the front line in Donetsk Oblast, but Ukrainian troops had many drones, which the command now relies on in battles against Russian infantry.

The commander of the 12th Azov Brigade's International Battalion, call sign Kil, told Radio NV in February 2026 that there are places on the front line where there is no Ukrainian infantry, but their defense is successfully maintained using drones, artillery, and mining.