Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on January 6, 2026, that December 2025 was the first month in which Ukrainian uncrewed systems units “neutralized” roughly as many Russian servicemen as Russia called up in a month.
In his Telegram statement, Syrskyi said Russian personnel losses exceeded 33,000 in December. He said that count included only cases confirmed by video and asserted that actual losses were higher.
The personnel-loss count and recruitment comparison could not be independently verified. Syrskyi did not provide the Russian call-up figure used in his comparison, and the loss figure does not establish a confirmed death toll.
Recruitment claims cover different periods
Other recruitment statements do not establish Russia’s intake for December. On May 13, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that 50,000 to 60,000 people were volunteering each month to participate in the war.
Speaking in December 2025 as Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov said Russia had met its annual recruitment target of 403,000 people. He said he believed that total had been reached on December 2. His assessment concerned recruitment accumulated during the year, rather than a count for December alone.
Ukraine plans to expand uncrewed systems capabilities
Syrskyi said Ukraine’s uncrewed systems capabilities had grown substantially during 2025 and that further expansion was planned for 2026. He said he had discussed those plans with commanders of leading uncrewed systems units.
For December, he reported a 31% increase in the number of targets hit or destroyed by drones and an increase of more than 25% in Russian personnel hit. These were Ukrainian military performance claims.
In a separate statement in December 2025, Syrskyi said uncrewed systems accounted for about 60% of all hits on enemy targets. That figure described target strikes, rather than the proportion of battlefield casualties caused by drones.
Ukraine uses first-person-view, or FPV, drones operated through live video from onboard cameras to attack troops and vehicles. Other drones drop munitions or conduct reconnaissance to help identify targets for other weapons.
Syrskyi also cited Ukrainian military intelligence in describing Russia’s expansion of its uncrewed forces. He said Russia had established a separate uncrewed systems force with 80,000 servicemembers and planned to increase it to 165,500 in 2026 and nearly 210,000 by 2030. Those personnel figures and expansion plans could not be independently verified.
