As unmanned aerial vehicles target Israel, Persian Gulf states and U.S. forces in the Middle East, Ukraine is selling equipment, giving advice and establishing joint production lines./
July 17, 2026 at 5:00 a.m./
Summary/
IMAGE A mid-strike drone launched by Ukrainian forces flies near the front line with Russia. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)/
By David L. Stern
KYIV — More than four years into Moscow’s full-scale war, Russian drones have emerged as the deadliest weapon in Ukraine, killing thousands of soldiers and civilians./
But for each Russian innovation — first-person-view vehicles, jet power, fiber-optic tethers — Ukraine has developed countermeasures./
Now, as drones target Israel, Persian Gulf states and U.S. forces in the Middle East, the government and defense industry here want to share what they have learned. Ukraine is selling allies equipment, giving advice and establishing joint production lines for financial and diplomatic gain./
“Ukraine has received a lot of blood experience,” said Stanislav Hryshyn, chief strategic officer of General Cherry, a major manufacturer of interceptor drones./
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has pushed the drone deals in interviews, speeches and meetings with other heads of state, has found a ready market. Hezbollah is deploying unmanned aerial vehicles to attack Israel, and Iran is using them against several countries in the region. (Ukraine also uses drones to surveil and attack Russian forces.)/
General Cherry has tracked the weapons’ use in the region./
“To tell the truth, we’ve learned nothing new,” spokesman Marko Kushnir said. “Because they use tactics and strategies that worked in Ukraine maybe a year or two years ago. … Most new things in the area of drones and interceptors come from us, not to us.”/
Since the United States and Israel launched war on Iran in February, Kyiv has signed nine drone deals, including 10-year security agreements with Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and more recently deals with Russian neighbors Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Other countries have expressed interest, Zelensky has said, and a proposal is “also on the table for our American partners.”/
“Latvia will adopt Ukraine’s unique combat experience in airspace defense against drone attacks,” Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in June. The deal included “immediate access to technologies,” he said, “but most importantly, the immediate arrival of Ukrainian anti-drone combat unit experts in Latvia.”/
“Our skies can only be protected if we follow Ukraine’s example, know-how and experience,” he wrote on X./
IMAGE
Forces in southern Ukraine prepare a mid-strike drone for flight. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)/
Kulbergs later announced that the two countries would begin building a joint drone production facility, perhaps before the end of the year, near Latvia’s border with Russia./
On Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced during a visit to Kyiv that Ukraine had signed a drone deal that covered countries and companies across the European Union./
In return for the drone deals, Kyiv wants more military and economic support — particularly American-made Patriot missiles, which are in short supply as U.S. forces battle Iran. (President Donald Trump said last week that he would allow Kyiv to make Patriot missiles in Ukraine, but full-scale production is probably years away.)/
Kyiv limits exports of its own drones to prioritize the needs of the Ukrainian military, but the restrictions are slowly being lifted./
“The terms must be beneficial for Ukraine,” Zelensky said in April, “and the proceeds from exports must strengthen Ukraine’s defense.”/
A multilayered line of defense/
IMAGE A drone pilot flies a P1-SUN long-range interceptor drone during a demonstration this month in central Ukraine. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)/
Ukraine’s anti-drone defenses rely on a variety of means to bring Russian drones down — early-warning systems, radar, electronic warfare, mobile fire groups, helicopters, jet fighters and interceptors. When Russia attacks, several factors help determine the response: the types of drones, their trajectory, whether they are headed for open countryside or the city./
“There is no one single bullet,” said Deborah Fairlamb, an American investor in military technology here. “There is sort of this funny magical thinking that a lot of people are doing in terms of ‘Hey, just send us all your drones or your interceptors.’ And what people are sort of missing is that, even though there’s tech and that’s what everybody sees, it’s only one piece of everything.”/
Still, interceptors are increasingly becoming the main line of defense. The percentage of drones intercepted is classified, Ukrainian officials say, but the numbers are rising rapidly./
More than 100 Ukrainian companies are involved in interceptor production. “We have approximately 15 to 20 very effective interceptors, which are also extensively used at the front,” said Andrii Hrytseniuk, the chief executive of Brave1, a Ukrainian government organization that provides a platform for the country’s defense tech sphere./
Each model has advantages and disadvantages depending on the target. As Russian forces change tactics, Ukraine’s military and drone producers have adapted./
“Any kind of numbers that I provide to you can be changed in one week because of some other tactics from Russia,” Hrytseniuk said./
Peering into the future/
IMAGE A Khyzhak combat module for targeting enemy drones is seen in Ukraine. (Oksana Parafeniuk/For The Washington Post)/
The turret swiveled and locked on a Washington Post journalist. The journalist stepped to his left. The turret followed him. He moved to his right. The turret did the same. The action, powered by
artificial intelligence, was automatic./
This is the Khyzhak, or Predator, created by UFORCE, a top manufacturer. UFORCE also produces the Magura, a highly effective sea drone./
The Predator uses thermal and high-optics cameras and lasers to detect, track and compute the distance, speed and trajectory of a target. A gyroscope stabilizes the system to increase the likelihood of a clean shot./
There was no weapon on the turret in the UFORCE office. But when deployed in the field, it is armed with a high-caliber automatic gun that can be mounted on a range of platforms, including unmanned vehicles on land and water, helicopters, and fighter jets. It’s too heavy for an aerial drone./
At some point, the Predator will become fully autonomous, said UFORCE Chairman Oleksiy Honcharuk, a former prime minister under Zelensky. For now, a human operator oversees the process of locking onto and tracking a target and makes the final decision on whether to pull the trigger./
image Workers adjust a Khyzhak unit at a production facility in Ukraine. (Oksana Parafeniuk/For The Washington Post)/
image The Khyzhak, or Predator, was created by created by the top defense manufacturer UFORCE. (Oksana Parafeniuk/For The Washington Post)/
With its turret-mounted automatic gun, the Predator can target any object at a range of up to 700 yards. But its creators hope it will be the first major weapons system capable of neutralizing fiber-optic-tethered, first-person-view (FPV) drones, which cause the bulk of casualties on both sides./
“I’m not telling you that the Shahed [drone] is not a problem at all — it’s still a problem, a huge problem,” Honcharuk said. “But the FPV is a problem, too, and if you already have an efficient way to intercept Shaheds with interceptors, we still don’t have an efficient way to intercept FPVs at all.”/
These drones are the greatest challenge to Ukraine’s military, he said, and the threat will only grow. Because they are directed through the fiber-optic tether, not radio waves, they are impervious to electronic warfare. At present, troops are limited to shooting at them with conventional firearms or protecting themselves with netting./
With time, Honcharuk said, Russia and its allies will introduce AI technology to FPV drones. The Khyzhak, as it evolves, will be able to counter the technology. Fully autonomous Khyzhaks could be deployed to patrol what’s now a no-man’s land, 20 miles wide in some areas, between Ukrainian and Russian lines./
“The main question is how Ukrainian troops can cross and survive this valley of death, this kill zone, and be protected from the drones,” Honcharuk said. “This is a $100 million question.”/
But the biggest boost that Kyiv can offer its allies, Hrytseniuk said, is a knowledge of how war is fought in the 21st century./
Countries need “to create small, very fast, agile players who can build new warfare in weeks, not years, be
cause speed matters,” the Brave1 leader said. “I always explain to our partners, ‘You think that you have years, you have months, but maybe not, and maybe in a couple of days you will face the attacks for which you are not prepared.’”/
The most important areas on which to focus are engineering, research and development, production lines that can be quickly expanded or contracted, and a tight feedback loop, in which information from the front line is processed as quickly as possible./
Ukrainians have been trying to impress on their allies that tactics that have worked even in the recent past are no longer effective./
“Keeping the same approach of 10 years ago — it creates some illusion of security,” Hrytseniuk said./
“Right now, the knowledge gap is huge, and Ukraine is the only country among the normal countries which understands what is needed to be done. And we are here to help.”/
Serhii Korolchuk contributed to this report/
26 comments/
What readers are saying/
The comments largely focus on Ukraine's advancements and strategic prowess in drone warfare, highlighting their effectiveness against Russian targets. There is praise for Ukraine's military capabilities and partnerships with other countries to co-produce weapons. Additionally, there is mention of a sanctions bill against Russia gaining bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate./
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