Russia is preparing to scale up its drone attacks against Ukraine to as many as 1,000 per day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published Monday, March 16.
Speaking to The New York Post, Zelensky said Russia is already launching between 350 and 500 drones daily.
If such tactics spread globally, even the world’s most advanced militaries could struggle to respond, he said.
“A drone has no distance,” Zelensky said. “Today, it can go 100 kilometers (62 miles). Tomorrow, it can go 1,000 (621 miles).”
Zelensky said the rapid expansion of drone use is transforming modern warfare and could overwhelm traditional air defense systems, including those used by the United States.
Ukraine, he said, has spent years adapting to the threat, increasingly relying on cheaper interceptor drones costing a few thousand dollars instead of expensive missile systems.