The drones are still in limited supply and are not always the ideal interception method, Ukrainian soldiers and an official told Business Insider.

Kyiv has now expressed readiness to drop its bid to join the NATO military alliance if the U.S. and other Western nations give it similar security guarantees.

The Russian submarine was allegedly carrying Kalibr cruise missiles, which Russia has used in devastating strikes on critical infrastructure and military targets across Ukraine. The SBU said the submarine was “put out of action” as a result of the blast. The FT could not independently verify the claim.

The battlefield is still dominated by aerial drones, which Syrski said are carrying out 60% of all strikes against Russian targets in the war.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down at least 287 Ukrainian drones overnight into Thursday morning.

A Ukrainian defence start-up has struck a €100mn deal to make tens of thousands of drones in Germany, the first such tie-up under a Kyiv initiative to help boost the output of the country’s defence companies.

Ukrainian special operators described to Business Insider how they came under Russian fire driving buggies near the front lines.