Ukraine’s top military commander says Russia is preparing for a dramatic escalation in its drone campaign, with plans to launch as many as 1,000 drones per day against Ukrainian targets this year, underscoring what Kyiv describes as Moscow’s lack of interest in peace negotiations.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian forces see no signs that Russia is preparing diplomatic initiatives or a slowdown in fighting. Instead, he said, Russian activity on the battlefield continues to intensify.
“On the contrary, we see an increase in the intensity of hostilities, an increase in the number of enemy offensive groups, an increase in the production of strike types of weapons, missiles, drones,” Syrskyi said. He noted that Russia is currently producing about 404 Shahed-type attack drones of various models every day, with plans to expand production further.
⚡️Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi:
— The Global Monitor (@theglobal4u) January 18, 2026
Russians plan to launch up to 1,000 drones per day against Ukraine in 2026. pic.twitter.com/ADYADXplGq
Asked about the scale of the buildup, Syrskyi said Russian planners are aiming to reach the capacity to deploy up to 1,000 drones daily. “The enemy plans to significantly increase production in order to use up to 1,000 drones per day,” he said. “Therefore, of course, we must do everything to disrupt these plans and cause such losses to the enemy that he will abandon his active actions and create conditions for negotiations. Because no one will negotiate with the weak.”
The warning aligns with earlier assessments of Russia’s growing drone industry. In September 2025, The New York Times reported that Russia was capable of producing roughly 30,000 Shahed-type attack drones per year at that time, with the potential to double that output by 2026. The report said Russian President Vladimir Putin had elevated drone production to a state priority.
That same month, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said Russia was also ramping up production of fiber-optic FPV drones used for frontline combat. According to Oleksiy Chadaev, general director of the Ushkuynyk Research and Production Center, Russia is producing more than 50,000 such drones.
Ukraine has sought to counter that buildup by striking drone-related infrastructure inside Russia. On the night of January 13, Ukrainian forces launched a missile strike on a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog, in Russia’s Rostov region. The target was identified as Atlant Aero, a company involved in drone production.
Ukrainian officials say disrupting Russia’s drone supply chain is critical as Moscow increasingly relies on mass drone attacks to overwhelm air defenses, strike energy infrastructure, and pressure civilian areas. Syrskyi’s comments suggest Kyiv views the expanding drone threat not only as a military challenge, but as a key factor shaping the prospects for any future negotiations.
