Ukraine created drone army one year ago. It already destroyed $40 billion worth in Russian targets

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) have struck Russian targets worth nearly $40 billion in the year since the branch’s creation, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. On 10 June, the Ukrainian president signed a decree establishing the Day of Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS Day).

The $40 billion cumulative damage figure Zelenskyy cited represents a 57% increase over the $25.5 billion in cumulative Russian losses that Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported in April 2026.

The SBS Day decree institutionalizes the unmanned forces as a permanent feature of Ukraine’s military doctrine, alongside the army, navy, and air force.

What Zelenskyy said about SBS’s achievements

“Only a year since the creation of the SBS group, Russian targets at various levels worth nearly $40 billion have already been hit,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address.

He added that SBS is really a model for many other armies, and “these months we are especially grateful for middlestrikes.”

“Russian military logistics across the entire depth of the temporarily occupied territory is now accessible to Ukrainian drones. The Russian border zone also experiences our impact,” he stated.

The president added that Russia already feels the effect of these strikes, and Ukraine will continue to scale them.

“The most important thing is that these are different types of strikes, and each one adds to our ability to save lives,” the Ukrainian president added.

What does middlestrike mean operationally? 

The middlestrike concept Zelenskyy invoked refers to Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian military logistics in the depth of occupied territory and across the Russian border zone. The depth zone covers Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, and parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts. The Russian border zone reaches Belgorod and Kursk. Middlestrikes sit between the very-long-range deep strikes against strategic Russian infrastructure, such as the Volgograd refineries, and the tactical frontline FPV operations. The SBS is led by Brigadier General Robert Brovdi, call sign “Madiar”.