KYIV, July 14 — Against the backdrop of a grinding war of attrition, Ukraine has quietly built a domestic drone industry capable of producing long-range unmanned aerial vehicles that can strike deep inside Russian territory, changing the tactical dynamics of the conflict. The Liutyi drone, first publicly revealed in 2023, sits at the heart of this new capability. With a range of over 1,000 kilometers and a payload capacity of up to 50 kilograms, it is powered by a gasoline engine and navigates using GPS and inertial guidance.
Manufactured by a state-owned defense enterprise, production numbers remain classified, though by January 2025 Ukrainian defense officials reported that hundreds of Liutyi drones had been produced. Ukraine has developed a family of long-range UAVs, including the UJ-22 Airborne, which has a range of 800 kilometers, and the Beaver, a jet-powered drone capable of reaching targets 700 kilometers away.
These platforms are launched from mobile systems and fly at low altitudes to evade Russian air defenses, a tactic that has allowed Ukraine to strike targets that were previously out of range. The strikes on January 23, 2025, demonstrated a significant leap in capability. Drones reached targets 1,500 kilometers from their launch points, suggesting improvements in fuel efficiency or airframe design.
This is a development that has reshaped what is at stake in the wider picture of the war: no longer are Russia’s rear areas safe from attack. The scale of Ukraine’s drone production ambition is vast.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in December 2024 that Ukraine would produce over 1 million drones of all types in 2025, including long-range models. This industrial push has been supported by a combination of Western technology transfers and domestic innovation, allowing Ukraine to rapidly scale up a sector that barely existed before the full-scale invasion. The drones themselves are relatively simple in design but effective.
The gasoline engine gives them endurance, while the GPS and inertial navigation systems allow them to fly pre-programmed routes without needing constant communication with ground operators, making them harder to jam or intercept. What is at stake now is whether Ukraine can sustain and expand this production. The stated target of 1 million drones of all types in 2025 is an industrial challenge of the first order, requiring raw materials, skilled labor, and continued access to Western components.
But the evidence of the January 2025 strikes — reaching targets 1,500 kilometers away — suggests that Ukrainian engineers are already pushing the boundaries of what these systems can do. The wider picture is clear: Ukraine has transformed its drone industry from a cottage effort into a strategic asset, one that is reshaping the battlefield and the calculations of planners on both sides.
The Liutyi and its siblings are no longer experimental prototypes. They are weapons of war, produced in the hundreds, and they are changing the conflict.
