Zelensky Threatens to Hit Russia With 1,000 Drones a Day
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is aiming to launch 1,000 long-range drones a day at targets inside Russia, threatening a sharp escalation in the air campaign that has increasingly carried the war deep into Russian territory.
“The task is: 1,000 drones a day for long-range attacks against Russia. We are currently carrying out an average of over 300 such long-range attacks — that figure must increase,” Zelensky said in his evening video address from Kyiv on Friday.
The Ukrainian leader said Kyiv would use every available weapon to repel Russian forces and must significantly ramp up production of interceptor missiles designed to counter Russian drones. His comments capped a week in which Ukrainian drones again struck oil refineries, logistics hubs and military facilities well beyond the front line. Those strikes, Zelensky argued, are steadily raising the price of Moscow’s invasion.
“They already have less fuel, fewer exports and reduced logistical capacity,” he said. “There will be even more such losses for them if Russia is not prepared to negotiate sensibly to bring this war to an end.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged the economic strain caused by the attacks, though he has dismissed the damage as non-critical. Moscow has responded by hammering Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, especially in the Odesa region, where commercial shipping has become nearly impossible. Zelensky said Ukraine would look for ways to block other Russian ports, after Kyiv already paralyzed Novorossiysk, a key supply hub for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Russia, he said, has rejected a naval ceasefire.
Beyond the battlefield, Zelensky said U.S. officials had briefed him on CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s talks in Moscow this week and thanked Washington for “the necessary tone of the talks with Russia.” The Wall Street Journal and Politico, citing unnamed sources, reported Ratcliffe warned Moscow against attacking NATO allies during his visit. President Donald Trump declined to discuss the trip, saying only: “They will not attack.”
The push for 1,000 daily drones is not just a tactical milestone. It reflects Kyiv’s broader strategy to turn long-range strikes into a negotiating lever, forcing the Kremlin to weigh the cost of continued war against a genuine settlement. Whether Ukraine can reach that target — and sustain it — depends on expanding domestic drone production and securing critical components, areas where Kyiv has progressed but still faces serious constraints.