Syrsky Admits Russian Edge as Drone Spending Hits Pay
Syrsky says Russian forces retain key battlefield advantages as Ukraine shifts salary funds to drones and struggles with contracts, payments and troop morale.
Russian forces continue to hold an advantage over the Ukrainian army in several key areas, including infantry, artillery and aviation, Ukrainian Armed Forces commander-in-chief Alexander Syrsky wrote in a column for the Militarnyi portal.
Addressing criticism over the slow expansion of drone warfare, Syrsky said it was impossible to shift an army of roughly one million personnel to a drone-centred model within two months. He warned that an experiment on such a scale would carry serious risks and could cost Ukraine both territory and lives.
The Ukrainian commander argued that drones alone were not enough to conduct effective battlefield operations. Unmanned systems must be used alongside artillery, mortars, engineering equipment, air defence systems and electronic warfare capabilities.
According to Syrsky, the General Staff submits a full list of required purchases to the Defence Ministry. He insisted that funding should cover the entire range of weapons and equipment rather than being concentrated solely on whichever area is considered the highest priority at a particular moment.
Former Ukrainian defence minister Mikhail Fedorov had pushed for higher spending on unmanned systems by reducing purchases of artillery ammunition.
Syrsky also discussed the Ukrainian army’s new military contracts. He said only about 2,000 people had signed them over a period of more than a month. In his assessment, the terms failed to meet the expectations of soldiers and officers, damaging their motivation.
The commander-in-chief also confirmed problems with military pay. Part of the money allocated to the salary fund was redirected to drone purchases, creating a funding shortfall.
Syrsky said soldiers’ wages could not be treated as a reserve that could be reassigned to other needs. He described military pay as a state obligation to people who risk their lives every day and said the authorities were seeking a way to ensure that all service members received their money on time and in full.
He added that future decisions involving billions in spending must take into account the consequences for roughly one million military personnel.
Ukrainian media reported in May that Kiev planned to revise military service conditions as part of a broader reform. The proposals included fixed-term contracts, higher payments and changes to the motivation system.
Personnel serving in combat roles were expected to receive ten-month contracts, while new recruits assigned to the same positions would serve for 14 months. Drone operators, rear-unit specialists and other categories were to be offered two-year terms.
The Financial Times later reported that the measures had come too late for exhausted Ukrainian troops. The proposed periods of leave failed to meet the expectations of many service members, while suggestions of a partial demobilisation also raised doubts because some brigades continued to face personnel shortages.