President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that Russia intends to spend $12 billion next year on the production of jet-powered drones and loitering munitions, citing Ukrainian military intelligence that he said had obtained internal Russian documents detailing the planned production volumes and their funding. Speaking in his evening address on September 26, Zelensky said the figures show Moscow is preparing to escalate its air war on Ukraine — not to end it.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that Russia intends to spend $12 billion next year on the production of jet-powered drones and loitering munitions, citing Ukrainian military intelligence that he said had obtained internal Russian documents detailing the planned production volumes and their funding. Speaking in his evening address on September 26, Zelensky said the figures show Moscow is preparing to escalate its air war on Ukraine — not to end it.
"Next year, just for the production of jet-powered drones and loitering munitions, Russia plans to spend $12 billion on this one category of weapons," Zelensky said. "Obviously, the Russians are not preparing to stop their war, at least for now."
A budget for escalation, not peace
The disclosure lands just days after renewed diplomacy at the United Nations General Assembly, where US President Donald Trump called for an end to the war and Zelensky said Ukraine would accept a ceasefire covering attacks on energy infrastructure if Russia agreed to the same terms. Zelensky said the $12 billion figure exposes the gap between Moscow's diplomatic language and its military planning.
He added that, according to multiple intelligence services, Russia intends to expand its war beyond Ukraine's borders. "Many intelligence services have information that the Russians want to expand their war, their activities, to more countries. Perhaps to other regions. That is why we need to build our defense together," he said, calling on partners to increase pressure on Moscow through sanctions and to strengthen joint efforts against drone attacks.
Zelensky also publicly urged Trump to implement the Lindsey Graham Act — sweeping legislation signed roughly a week ago that gives the US president authority to impose sanctions and tariffs on Russia, its energy sector, and foreign governments and entities that help Moscow evade existing restrictions.
The jet-drone threat over Ukrainian cities
Jet-powered attack drones have become one of the most dangerous elements of Russia's aerial campaign. In some recent attacks on Kyiv, they have accounted for around two-thirds of all drones launched, Zelensky said. More than 2,730 jet-powered Shahed-type drones were launched against Ukraine in September alone.
The shift in technology is stark. Russia's older Geran-2 drones — propeller-driven copies of Iran's Shahed-136 — fly at roughly 115 miles per hour, slow enough for Ukrainian mobile fire teams and interceptor drones to engage. The newer turbojet models are a different weapon: the Geran-3, a Russian analog of Iran's Shahed-238, can reach 373 miles per hour and up to 500 in a dive, while the Geran-5, closely modelled on the Iranian Karrar, flies at about 370 miles per hour with a range of nearly 600 miles and a 198-pound payload.
The scale of production is expanding. Politico reported last week on plans acquired from a Russian state firm outlining airframe material for another 28,000 one-way attack drones a year, on top of the roughly 36,000 already estimated to be produced annually. Satellite imagery has also revealed a new Russian facility built this year dedicated to launching jet-powered drones, equipped with 280-foot rails.
Ukrainian cities are already absorbing the consequences. Russian attacks on September 26 killed four people in Ukraine — two women trapped under the rubble of their home in Zaporizhzhia and two more people in Sumy — while strikes on Kyiv's data centers and communications infrastructure knocked internet access offline across the capital. Zelensky said Russia is running a deliberate campaign against Ukrainian data centers, infrastructure, and communications aimed at leaving civilians without internet, communications, and digital services.
Ukraine's answer: interceptors and drone deals
Ukraine's air defenses currently intercept about 55 percent of Russia's jet-powered Shahed-type drones, according to Zelensky — far below the rate achieved against conventional propeller-driven Shaheds, which he said exceeds 90 percent. Closing that gap is now the centerpiece of Ukraine's air-defense effort.
"We are scaling up production and components. There will be a response," Zelensky said, noting that several interceptor drone prototypes are already being tested in combat, with some identified as potential primary means of defense against the jet-powered weapons.
Kyiv is also expanding its international drone partnerships. Ukraine has signed 11 drone production deals, Zelensky said — the latest, with Finland, signed this week in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly — and is preparing a 12th agreement expected to be signed with another country in the coming weeks. "For Ukraine, this means more production capacity, more funding, and more technological advantages," he said.
The drone race has become the war's center of gravity. Russia is pouring billions into faster, harder-to-stop weapons built to terrorize cities through the winter. Ukraine is answering with interceptors, expanded production, and a growing web of partner agreements. Whether Kyiv can raise its interception rate from 55 percent toward 90 percent before Russia's $12 billion arsenal comes online will shape the war's next phase — and test whether Western sanctions can choke the supply chains that make Moscow's drone factories possible.