Umerov: Russia's war against Ukraine world’s first war of drones

The war Russia has unleashed against Ukraine sees many things happening on the battlefield for the first time ever. Among other things, it is believed to be the first war of drones.

This was stated by Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, who spoke at the Ukraine. Year 2024 Forum, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Russia's war against Ukraine is a war where many things are happening for the first time. This war is the first one with such a number of missiles launched against peaceful cities - since the full-scale invasion, Russia has fired over 8,000 missiles at Ukraine. And this is the war in which Kinzhal missiles were downed for the first time... This is the war where the powerful enemy’s fleet is being destroyed by drones for the first time. This is actually the first war of drones. We learn and adapt to the realities, and that is why we are setting up the Unmanned Systems Forces – the president has recently signed the decree. Now, the Ministry of Defense, together with the General Staff, will work on policy formation and creation of the Unmanned Systems Forces," Umerov said.

According to the minister, this is also the first war where smartphones are also weaponized as, in addition to conventional means, we have to fight a hybrid information war on a daily basis.

"This is the first war of such a scale where within several minutes, information is spread by hundreds and even thousands of communication tools, where we face ‘anonymous sources’, unprecedented propaganda and information attacks," the minister emphasized.

He noted that the support of mass media and various institutions for the war effort is critical in this regard, because "our weapon in the information war is truth, and our main goal is to convey it to the world."

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Ukraine. Year 2024 Forum is being held on Sunday. The main topics of the event include achieving Ukraine’s goals in the ongoing war, developing the country’s Defense and Security Forces, running the national defense and industrial complex, ensuring economic growth and Ukraine’s integration into world markets, implementing Volodymyr Zelensky’s Peace Formula, achieving security guarantees, and protecting the lives of Ukrainians.