Ukraine and Latvia launch drone and electronic warfare coalition
Source: Ukraine’s defense ministry
Ukraine and Latvia are starting a coalition of drones and radio-electronic warfare. Other countries are welcomed to join the coalition.
Latvia initiated the creation of the coalition during a meeting of defense ministers in December 2023. This initiative will help the Ukrainian military in the war, where the use of drones has become an important element of combat operations.
‘Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine demonstrated the strategic value and effectiveness of using drones in combat. We must promote Ukraine’s superiority on the battlefield and demonstrate long-term support for Ukraine. That is why we set ourselves high tasks,’ Latvia’s defense minister Andris Spruds stated.
‘Ukrainian production is already showing results, and these are more than 70 samples of unmanned aerial vehicles. And now we need help scaling,’ said Ukraine’s deputy minister Kateryna Chernohorenko.
Partner countries have already expressed their support and understanding of the expediency of creating a coalition. They will announce their next steps on January 23 during the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
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