According to official data from the Ukrainian army, its unmanned systems have destroyed Russian military assets worth about $20 billion in seven months. This has happened in the framework of more than 832,000 combat missions, during which over 168,000 targets were hit.
The operations have eliminated over 50,000 Russian soldiers and destroyed 532 tanks, approximately 2,500 artillery systems and howitzers, nearly 7,700 vehicles, and over 5,500 motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.
The Ukrainians Drones have also carried out over 350 strikes directly on Russian territory, causing losses to Moscow's forces estimated at $3 billion per month.
December 2025 saw a record 106,859 confirmed drone strikes - a 31% increase over the previous month. A total of 33,019 Russian soldiers and 128 air defense and radar systems were eliminated, according to Mikhail Fedorov, Ukraine's deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation.
"This is the largest number of Russian air defense and radar systems hit in a single month," he emphasized.
Even if we assume that Kiev exaggerates the results, but the fact is that the country uses this type of weapon extremely effectively.
Drone warfare
Vauraktar drones were of enormous importance in the first months of the war in Ukraine, as they allowed the attacked side to stop the Russian offensive towards Kiev. ΠThroughout the subsequent stages of the conflict, however, drone systems underwent a large-scale evolution.
Long-range models began to destroy targets hundreds of kilometers inside Russia, the seaplanes practically eliminated the Black Sea Fleet of the aggressor, and the small FRV drones with the main weapon of the front line.
The forces for unmanned systems were officially established as a separate branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on June 11, 2024 under the command of Colonel Vadim Cyxaperevski, making Ukraine the first country with such an organization. Major Robert Brody, known by the call sign Maguire, later assumed command of the group.
The branch integrates air, sea, and ground unmanned platforms to provide asymmetric deterrence, compensating for deficiencies in conventional aviation and artillery. ΠThe successive strikes include the S-300B anti-aircraft missile system in Donetsk, the TOP missile system and the 50H6E radar on the S-350 "Vityaz" system on January 1, as well as the Krasnodar oil refinery.
In addition, Ukrainian drones have been flying towards Moscow every day since New Year's Eve.
The Russians are not far behind. The FRV drones also demonstrate very high efficiency, as for a certain time they have even advanced in the use of optical fiber for control as a way to correct the confusion. The long-range models, derivatives of the Iranian "Shahed" as well as the main field for the destruction of Ukraine's energy sector.
Gamification of war
The effectiveness is due in part to the Ukrainian eValue incentive system, which provides real-time battlefield data with video confirmation of each hit.
The formations compete based on the results and can exchange points for additional drones and equipment through the Vrave1 Market platform. The 414th Brigade Maguar Võrds topped the December rankings.
All this is for a game, not for a conflict with real victims, and the very visualization of the results from Ukrainian drone operators says one thing - war, even in the 21st century, is capable of dehumanizing us.