Ukraine has all the prerequisites to become a global center of drone industry innovation

06.11.2025

Ruslan Shostak, president of TERWIN

In 2025, Ukraine will produce over 4.5 million drones. Today, we are one of the world's largest manufacturers of unmanned systems. For now, these are military systems.

However, this leadership must not be confined solely to the front line. After the war, drones will become a vital part of civilian infrastructure—powering logistics, delivery, monitoring, environmental protection, medicine, agriculture, and smart cities. It is crucial to start preparing the country for this new reality right now.

It is absolutely clear that the future of cities lies in three-dimensional space: drone ports on building rooftops, charging and battery-swapping stations, aerial corridors, and traffic management systems (akin to the European U-space), alongside the integration of drones into rescue operations and smart city services.

In China, this process began systematically: as early as 2019, EHang received a civil aviation certificate for its EH216 passenger drone, and in 2023, China officially authorized commercial drone-taxi flights in Guangzhou. The city of Shenzhen has become the epicenter of this unmanned ecosystem—home to hundreds of companies executing thousands of deliveries daily, backed by a comprehensive state-backed regulatory framework for low-altitude flights. China has demonstrated that the success of the drone industry relies not just on technology, but on a state strategy where business, science, and regulators operate in lockstep.

Dubai has bet heavily on integrating drones into urban life. In 2022, it launched the Dubai Sky Dome project—a low-altitude air traffic management system. There, drones deliver documents, medicine, and cargo, while assisting police and rescue services. The government has developed certification rules, designated specific airspace zones, and is preparing the first rooftop drone ports. In the Emirates, a drone operator obtains a license much like a driver—through a state registration system. This is a prime example of the state acting not merely as a customer, but as the architect of future infrastructure.

Ukraine has every prerequisite to become the third global hub of the drone industry—alongside China and the UAE. We possess cutting-edge technologies forged under the pressure of war, and talented engineers and entrepreneurs capable of rapidly scaling innovation. However, at the state level, this domain remains unsystematized: there is no single regulator, no urban flight rules, and no cohesive drone policy spanning the State Emergency Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and local governments. Even the best Ukrainian technologies will fail to "take off" in peacetime—both literally and metaphorically—if we do not establish the proper conditions.

To maintain our leadership, we must act immediately: pass legislation on drone aviation, introduce certification and liability frameworks, define low-altitude airspace management rules, design drone ports, charging stations, and flight routes, and integrate drones into smart cities and emergency services. We need to designate a responsible authority—whether it be the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Emergency Service, or Ministry of Digital Transformation—and develop a unified "Drone Policy of Ukraine." The next step will be joining the EU's U-space initiative and establishing an export program for Ukrainian technology.

While China built an industrial ecosystem and Dubai established a legal and infrastructural one, Ukraine is uniquely positioned to combine both models: the massive scale of military technology combined with the agility of startups and engineering creativity. If we fail to convert our military advantage into civilian capability, we will lose our leadership the moment the guns fall silent. But if we start acting today, Ukraine can become a global center of innovation for the drone industry—a country where drones not only protect lives but make them better.