Ukraine to Deploy 1,000 Interceptor Drones Daily – Shmyhal

Ukraine will soon be able to deploy at least 1,000 interceptor drones daily to fend off Russian attacks, Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Kyiv with Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Shmyhal said Russia already launches about 800 drones per night, forcing Ukraine to scale up its capabilities.

“This level will be achieved. I cannot disclose the current number, but in the near future this target will be implemented,” he said.

Shmyhal emphasized that drone production is not the challenge. The real obstacle, he said, lies in the deployment of ground-based control systems, radars, and artificial intelligence-powered targeting components.

“This is a large system, and its implementation takes some time. But we are moving toward this goal confidently, according to plan,” he added.

Last week, Shmyhal said the UK will produce interceptor drones for Ukraine under an expanded agreement.

Shmyhal, who visited London last week for the Ramstein meeting to discuss Western military aid for Ukraine, said the first thousand drones will soon be delivered to Ukraine.

Shmyhal said he discussed the technical implementation of the project with UK Defence Secretary John Healey as part of an expanded agreement previously discussed between President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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While Shmyhal did not elaborate on the project’s details, such as the type of drone and the financing mechanism or costs, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) wrote on Wednesday that the drone is a joint British-Ukrainian developed product.

The MoD said the drone is called “Project OCTOPUS,” describing it as an “advanced new air defence interceptor drone” in its press release.

It said the drone was developed in Ukraine with British assistance – a product of an intellectual property agreement signed and expanded in the summer of 2025.

“The drone developed under Project OCTOPUS was designed by Ukraine with support from UK scientists and technicians and has already proved successful on the battlefield, proving highly effective against the Shahed one-way attack drone variants used by Russia – despite costing less than 10% to produce than the drones they are designed to intercept,” the press release states.