Ukraine's secret drone factories help turn the tide in its war against Russia

Light, fast, and cheap. That's what's needed for a lot of the drones being used right now in the war between Ukraine and Russia. Now, over four years ago, when Russia first attacked, Ukraine was expected to fall easily. But drone warfare has kept them in the fight. And even though Russia also uses drones, it seems that Ukraine is using theirs more effectively. We started to produce it massively since November 2025. And for now, we have confirmations that our drones destroyed more than 1,000 Russian Shakhtars, only Shakhtars. Because overall, we destroyed more than 20,000 different Russians' drones. Ukrainian defense tech company General Cherry makes almost 100,000 drones per month. That includes the Bullet, which is mostly made of plastic. It can fly almost 200 miles per hour and only costs about $2,000. Many of the parts are 3D printed in their factory using Ukrainian technology. Even cheaper is this $1,500 drone made of styrofoam. There's a camera and control system and room for explosives. And the cheapest drone I saw, not including the cost of the explosives, a $400 kamikaze drone made at an all-female-owned-and-operated drone factory. Ukraine's current military is decentralized, so brigades on the front lines and companies that support them fundraise for equipment and often work together. But this smaller women-owned factory has more formal connections with the front lines. We work closely with the units. And that's why, when we deliver, and they say that this is girls, and we, like, want to make super professional and high-quality drones. Before Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Oksana was a florist. This one's pretty much beautiful. You see this bug. One of her colleagues was a teacher, another a TV producer. But these days, the war effort is their focus, including learning how to fly the drones they make. The training can take just two weeks. And, as you can see, operating a drone looks a lot like playing a video game. The reality, though, is very real. Russia currently occupies about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. But all of Ukraine's innovation seems to be changing the tide of the war. Last month, Ukraine reportedly regained more land than it lost. NATO's secretary-general has confirmed that Ukraine is now killing or seriously wounding at least 30,000 Russian troops per month. While the current number of monthly Ukrainian casualties is not available, it's estimated to be substantially lower. Ukraine has also launched drone attacks inside Russia, and is challenging Russia's hold over the occupied territory of Crimea. I will fight back and will find all the ways I can to protect the country, to support my friends. My brother serves, my best friends went to serve in the army. Most of them work with drones, with different type of drones. So, yeah, I just do it. Drones have changed the way wars are being fought. There's now trench warfare in some parts of this war. That's like World War I. It's because anything that's above ground is an easy target. A lot of the Ukrainians I spoke with say that they still want to take back the regions that Russia has so far claimed, like Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. We'll see what happens and if a ceasefire deal is possible sometime this year or into the next.