"Two years ago we were two steps ahead of the Russians," said Oleksandr Yakovenko, CEO of one of Ukraine's largest drone manufacturers. "But now, we are one step ahead of them."

He recalled that just last month, Russian soldiers were running on motorcycles in Ukrainian territory, so much so that it was impossible for Kief’s troops to deploy enough drones to stop them all.

“At present (the battlefield) has nothing to do with new technologies,” Yakovenko told the Financial Times at the headquarters of Black Sea Port Odesa. “It’s about how to adapt to new strategies.”

The creativity of Ukrainian drone startups has been a rare highlight of their economy and has put Russian progress in trouble. Over the past two years, Ukraine's frontlines have increasingly been dominated by drones, which almost controls No Man's Rand, a 10-15-km wide. Moscow has also revolutionized its use and provision of drones, with devastating impacts not only on the battlefield but also on the city.

Yakovenko, 35, the founder of TAF drone, is at the forefront of the revolution, as wars go from initial dependence on heavy artillery to this high-tech combat tendency.

His company started from scratch in the early stages of the Russian full-scale invasion in 2022, causing 350,000 drones last year, and in 2024 there were about 2MNs in total in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government’s contract was only the same as the Ukrainian government in the first six months of the year and hopes to expand production to European voter populations.

But Yakovenko doesn't celebrate. He talked about the challenges and complexities of drone warfare – from dealing with complex Russian drone jamming systems to having to rethink supply chains.

Over the past three years, China has provided most of the thermal cameras, carbon frames and battery batteries for cheap first-person drones that are at the feet of drone warfare. Yakovenko said he spent $1.2 billion on Chinese components over the past 18 months, often relying on third parties to evade export control.

But trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have exacerbated the impact of Chinese fixtures on exports of key components, including sensors for thermal cameras, last September. Ukrainian drone companies find it more difficult to evade restrictions.

"Even after weeks of a trade war, we have a huge problem," Yakovenko said. "We had to delay orders for a month due to the crackdown." Only a few European companies produce such parts, and their products are much more expensive than Chinese companies.

Yakovenko also has no fantasy about the threat of transforming Russia. "We tend to innovate first. But when we create something new, they respond quickly."

One of the most successful Russian innovations recently was the use of fiber-light drones, as they rely on cables that communicate about the breadth of human hair rather than radio signals.

Although Yakovenko said that because the cables are limited to 20 kilometers and are often at sub-zero temperatures, they are not a game-changer, he expects winters made in Shanghai this summer to be more intense than in Ukraine.

Ukraine's drone war is hailed as heralding a new era of war, but it was a revolution and Ukrainians believed that Western armies were slowly appreciated. "In Ukraine, Russia and China, this is not yet understood in Ukraine, Russia and China," Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, former head of the Ukraine Army, said at the Royal Joint Service Academy meeting in London last week.

Yakovenko and other drone manufacturers are now attracted by Western military and companies to insight and partnerships. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will allow the export of drones to Europe this year, an area that is increasingly expected.

"We have a lot of good companies with very good technology, and they want to make products in Europe," Yakovenko said. But most European governments would rather invest in their own companies. "Many foreigners use our wars for education. We understand that. It's OK. They help us too."

Yakovenko often wears a hoodie with the words "Get", "hit" and "repeat" and is interrupted by images of drones, tanks and three arrows.

The former logistics company director turned into a drone maker embodies Ukraine’s resilience to its stronger enemy — if the war continues, the Trump administration will withdraw U.S. support for Keefe as it threatens to do so.

Yakovenko is headquartered in Odesa and is often hit by Russian drones and missiles. Every two months, he moves the safety center of the production center every two months.

On the morning of the full Russian invasion, he wrote to employees: "You have four hours to make up your mind, guys. Leave. If you stay, we will do our best to help our army."

Almost everyone stayed and helped him from delivering goods to bringing supplies to the frontline. On a trip in 2022, he saw soldiers modify a sport drone on the battlefield. This made his mind compete. He set up a charity that assembles hundreds of drones for the frontline every month.

He was then summoned to Kiev to see the minister in charge of drones, Mykhailo Fedorov. He recalls Fedorov telling him: "It's cool, you've started a charity and provided drones for free, but please build a business. We need to compete."

He said one of the reasons why Western defense companies are reluctant to invest in drone production is that the pace of change is ruthless.

With the advent of new models, today's cult drones will usually be redundant in a few months. He said that in 2023, the average distance of the Kamikaz drone that exploded during impact was 5 kilometers and the payload was about 1 kilogram. "Now they can travel 40 kilometers with a payload of 3 kg."

In 2025, he predicts that land drones will be used more and more: “This will be the year of robots on wheels. They will be used to evacuate people from the front, and if we need to send supplies to the front line, we don’t need to risk sending people.”

The rapid development of artificial intelligence means that pilots in the First Person View (FPV) will soon no longer need to guide them on the front line, but can be in offices hundreds of miles away.

But while Ukraine still maintains its advantage over Russia in terms of innovation, he warned that Moscow proves that Moscow is more efficient. "Russia takes a step forward. If it continues (like this) for two years, it will be impossible (for us) to continue to defend."