Morning Jolt: How Ukraine’s Drone Army Is Being Built

WITH JIM GERAGHTY

February 25 2025

How Ukraine's Drone Army Is Being Built

On the menu today: A visit to two more secret Ukrainian drone production facilities and some almost-adorable "drone dogs"; why, despite U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff's assertion, the Istanbul Protocol Agreement is not a useful guidepost for peace talks; and some cold hard numbers — or at least cold hard estimates — on how Russia is experiencing roughly one Vietnam War's worth of killed in action each year during its invasion of Ukraine.

Touring a Drone Factory
Somewhere in Ukraine — I'm in a location that feels like it's straight out of a Mission: Impossible movie. A mundane storefront on a Ukrainian city street hides a combat drone production company behind its walls.

For obvious reasons, I can't say where this drone production company is — they don't want me to even mention the region, and they've asked me not to print the company's name, even though they're allowing me to take a few pictures of their products. (While asking for this secrecy, they also gave me a big stack of promotional materials, and I wonder if they want me to hand them out in the Pentagon parking lot or ...